iU uu 




BY CHARLES MORRIS. 



.NEW SERIES. 



BEGINNER'S ANATOMY, PHYSIOLOGY, AND HYGIENE, 

Including Scientific Instruction on tlie Ettects of Stimulants and 
Narcotics on the Growing Body. 

By JOHN C. CUTTER, B.Sc, M.D., 

Late Professor of Physiology and Comparative Anatomy in the Imperial College of Agricul- 
ture, Sapporo, Japan ; Consulting Physician to Imperial Japanese Colonial 
Department of Yezo and the Kuriles. 

.Small I'itno. 144 Pages. 47 Illiist vat ions. Plea Type. Cloth, jji'*»jferf. 
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The language of the book is simple and direct. Technical and long 
words have been, as far as possible, avoided. The pronunciation of the tech- 
nical words (in the text), and the syllabication of the long words, will aid 
the young pupil. The paragraphs are brief, and each one is confined fo a 
single topic. Though searching questions are appended, yet the head- 
lines of the sections and of the paragraphs well adapt the book for the topi- 
cal method of recitation. 

The main 
lants on (1) 



and of the wl 
in each divis 

The healtl 
and of the W' 
sented in tin 
the sentence! 
of diseases '. 
directions foi 

In order t 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 




cotics and stimu- 
lealth of the parts, 
ct, simple language 



e facts of structure 
its are mainly pre- 
^nie is presented in 
to the prevention 
and food. Simple 
it cases are given, 
ihysiology) may be 



better understood, directions are given where to observe and what to look 
for on the human body, or other animal bodies ; also directions for illustra- 
tive simple experiments. The apparatus required is meagre: a student's 
microscope, bulb-syringe, fruit-jars, candle, etc. 

That the facts of anatomy may be easier and better impressed on the 
mind, directions for the dissection of a rat or dog, and for the dissection of 
special parts of other animals, are given. For these dissections the only tools 
required will be a pocket-knife, a saw, a thin-bladed bread-knife, several 
hooks in handles (a barbless fish-hook tied to a pen-holder), and scissors. 
Each anatomical statement is accompanied by a reference to an illustration. 



J. B. I^IPPIIVCOTX COMPANY, 

Nos. 715 and 717 Market Street, Miiladelphia. 



NEW SERIES. 



INTERMEDIATE ANATOMY, PHYSIOLOGY, AND HYGIENE, 

IncUidinj? Scieiitilic Instruction vipon tlie Eftects of Nai-cotics and 
Stinmlants upon the Human Body (1887). 

A R&v'ision of the "First Book on Anatomy, Physiology, and Hygiene," prepared by Calvi> 
Cl'TTER, A.M., M,D., in 1854. 

12tno. 2iS Pttffes. 70 Illusti'ntions. S»nall Pira Type. Cloth, -printeil. 
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Til 1854, owing to the want of a teachable text-book, physiology and 
hygiene was not a general branch of school instruction. The "First Book 
on Anatomy, Physiology, and Hygiene," more than any other, has served 
to educate the teacher and the public of this decade to the importance of 
hygiene and the need of physiological school instruction. 

This book in the hands of missionary laborers and native scholars has 
been translated and published in the Bulgarian, Armenian, Arabic, Hin- 
dustani, Tamil, Japanese, also in other Oriental languages. It has also been 
prepared in raised letters for the blind. 

The effects of Alcohol, Tobacco, Opium, etc., on the structure, on the 
functions, and on the health of the parts of the body (particularly of young 
persons) have been treated from a scientific stand-point in each chapter of 
this revision. 

There have been added in this edition chapters on Foods, Beverages, the 
Home and Emergent Cases, also directions for simple experiments and 
for demonstrations on the living body, and for the dissection of small 
animals (dog, rat), illustrative of the structure and the actions of the living 
body. While believing that charts for reference and engravings on the 
printed page are indispensable to a proper study of the subject, we also 
think that object lessons, seeing the organ or part, and witnessing the phe- 
nomena of life, will make a more enduring impression, and should take 
precedence in this branch of modern science. 

The Anatomical portion is clear and brief. Each anatomical statement 
is followed by a reference to the particular part of an illustrative figure. 
The Physiological explanation of the phenomena of the living body is 
concise, yet expressed in simple language. The Hygienic portion is un- 
usually extended and very practical in its nature. 

The Review questions, the antique letter headings of the paragraphs, 
the Blackboard Analytic Summaries, the cross references, the con- 
tinuous numbering of the paragraphs, the pronouncing glossary, and 
the full index make the book a teachable elementarv text-book. 



J. B. IvIPPII^COXX COMPAIVY, 

Xos. 715 and 717 Market Street, Philadelphia. 



AN ELEMENTARY HISTORY 

OF THE 

UNITED STATES. 



AN 



ELEMENTARY HISTORY 



OF THE 



United States 



BY 



CHARLES MORRIS, 

AimOR OF "half-hours with AMERICAN HISTORY," "THE ARYAN RACE, 

"civilization: a historical review of its elements,'' ltc. 




PniLADET>PHIA: 

J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY. 

1890. 



X.tv^ 



ETns 
.1 

fsqo 



Copyright, 1890, by J. B. Lippincott Company. 



^ll l'5TERE0TYPF_^?Sa^^D^RINTERsj| |l» 



PREFACE 



Histories of the United States of America have been 
many times written, and in many ways ; so often, indeed, 
that some might deem there was notliing more to say, or 
no new way of saying it. Yet new histories are of yearly 
appearance, and the world does not seem tired of welcom- 
ing them. These are usually written for the old ; l)ut wliy 
not new histories for the young, who can certainly find no 
more profitable reading than the story of the origin and 
development of their own country ? 

'No romance, in fact, can have more of interest and 
adventure, heroic efforts and nohle deeds, than may be 
found in the history of the discovery and settlement of 
the American continent, and the birth and growth of the 
great republic of the United States. In the whole history 
of mankind there is little to surpass it in interest, and noth- 
ing in importance. To the youthful American, indeed, it 
is indispensable, and whatever else he may learn, a full and 
accurate acquaintance with the story of his own land should 
stand first in his course of study, as an absolutely requisite 
preliminary to the making of an American citizen. 

This story is too near us to appeal to our minds with that 
glamour of romance which often clings to the annals of 

1* 5 



Q PRE FA CE. 

more remote periods. To many it seems devoid of the 
interest of the era of chivalry, the charm of knightly deeds 
and strange adventure, and takes form in their minds in- 
stead as a detail of prosy incidents and matter-of-fact events. 
Yet such a conception does great injustice to the true char- 
acter of American history, and to the numerous instances 
of knightly valor and chivalrous honor which give all the 
interest of romance to its pages. The deeds of our pioneers 
have never been surpassed in daring and the spirit of adven- 
ture, the progress of discovery and settlement in this country 
is a story replete with attractiveness, Avhile there is nothing 
more marvellous in fiction than the extraordinary progress 
of civilization in the region of the United States during the 
few centuries since settlement was first made upon its shores. 
History, however, in the modern sense of the word, 
covers a broader space than the tale of war and adventure, 
daring migration and political progress. There is the story 
of the people as well as of their leaders to tell, the home 
life of the masses, the record of manners and customs, 
invention, and peaceful development in the arts and sciences. 
Thus we are not alone concerned with Avar and the rumors 
of war, but also Avith peace and the triumphs of [>eace ; not 
alone with political development, the formation of govern- 
ments, the struggles of patriotism, and the growth of repub- 
licanism, but also with the details of every-day life, the 
description of those powerful influences which have made not 
only America but the Americans, and to which the citizens 
of our country owe that spirit of liberty and restless energy 



PREFACE. 7 

which have made them the envy of the oppressed masses 
of Europe, and their country the modern " wonder of the 
AvorkL" Tliis inner story of the American people we have 
endeavored to set forth in a series of chapters descriptive of 
city and country hfe at various periods of our colonial and 
national history, each a picture of the people of America as 
they appeared at the various periods indicated. The progress 
of invention, striking' developments of mechanical ability, 
religious conditions, and all that makes up the multiform 
life of a great people, have been described as fully as the 
space at command permitted, with the design of making at 
once a history of the American nation and of the American 
people, adapted in style and language to the use of the 
young. As such it is offered to the school public of the 
United States, with the hope that it may prove a welcome 
addition to our historical literature. 

C. M. 



CONTENTS 



PART I. 

EXPLORATIONS AND DISCOVERIES. 

r::(TION page 

I. — The Voyage of Columbus II 

11. — Later Voyages 18 

III.— The Indians 25 

IV. — French and English Settlements 30 

Questions for Examination 38 

PART II. 
THE ENGLISH COLONIES. 

I.— Virginia 39 

II.— The Pilgrims and the Puritans 4) 

III. — Indian Wars of New England 53 

IV. — Manners and Customs of the Puritans 57 

v. — New York G2 

VI.— Life in New York GG 

VII.— Maryland G9 

VIII.— Pennsylvania 70 

IX. — Life in Pennsylvania 74 

X.— The Carolinas 78 

XI. — Life in Virginia and Carolina ... 80 

XII. — Georgia 85 

XIII. - Condition of the Colonies 90 

Questions for Examination 93 

PART III. 
THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 

I. — The French in America 97 

II. — George Washington 101 

III.— The War in the North 107 

Questions for Examination 113 

9 



10 CONTENTS. 

PART IV. 
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 

SECTION PAGE 

I.— The Tyranny of England 115 

II.— The Work of the Minute-Men 122 

III. — The War for Independence 131 

IV — The People and the Country 139 

Questions for Examination 14G 

PART V. 
THE FIRST HALF-CENTURY OF THE REPUBLIC. 

I. — The Making of the Government 149 

II. — The Second War with Great Britain 155 

III.— After the War 162 

IV. — The Progress of the Country 1G5 

Questions for Examination 173 

PART VI. 
TWENTY YEARS OF PROGRESS. 

I.— The Tariff Troubles and the Panic 176 

II.— The War with Mexico 179 

III.— The Work of the People 183 

Questions for Examination 192 

PART VII. 
THE ERA OF THE CIVIL WAR. 

I. — The Slavery Controversy 194 

II. — From Secession to Emancipation 198 

III.— The Final Years of the War 207 

Questions for Examination 213 

PART VIII. 

THE ERA OF PEACE AND PROGRESS. 

I. — Events since the War 216 

II. — Kecent Progress in America 227 

Questions for Examination 240 



AN ELEMENTARY HISTORY 

OF THE 

UNITED STATES. 



PART I. 

EXPLORATIONS AND DISCOVERIES. 
I.— THE VOYAGE OF COLUMBUS. 

Four Hundred Years ago. — The world had grown old, 
very old, hefore America was discovered. Great empires had 
risen in Europe and Asia, and passed away ; many millions 
of men had lived and died ; but not half the earth was 
known. Men did not even know its shape. Most persons 
thought that the earth was flat, and that the ocean every- 
where spread around the land. Sailors were afraid to go 
far out to sea, and most of them kept in sight of land, for 
no one knew what dangers might lie out on the open ocean, 
where man had never been. Many thought that a ship 
which sailed far out on the ocean would And itself gliding 
down a hill of waters, up which it could never climb again. 
Others believed that there was a region of fogs and mists, in 
which a ship, once lost, would never And its way out. Most 
of the learned men of the time refused to believe that a 
vessel could pass round the earth and return to its starting- 
point. 

The Mariner's Compass. — Before this time an important 



1'2 AN ELEMEXTARY HISTORY OF 

discovery was made. A stone was tiniud which had strange 
properties. It was wliat is now known as the loadstone, or 
natural magnet, and which has the power ot* attracting iron, 
and of pointing north and sontli. A steel needle rubbed on 
it acquires the same properties. Hung up bv its centre, 
one end of the needle points towards the north. This 
was a diseoverv of the utmost importance to seamen. They 
can now, even though they are thousands of miles from 
land, tell by day or night in what direction they are sailing. 
Few things have been more useful to mankind than this 
little magnetic needle, known as the mariner's compass. 

Marco Polo. — At the time of which avc are speaking — the 
latter }nirt of the tifteenth century — there was the greatest 
desire to discover new countries. Travellers had been to 
far-ott* lands, and had come back with strange stories, which 
tilled others with the love of adventure and discovery. One 
traveller, a Venetian named Marco Polo, had been as far as 
China and Japan, and brought back exciting accounts of 
the riches and wonders of those distant lands. The ships 
of the Portuguese had sailed down the coast of Africa as far 
as the Cape of Good Hope. The bold sailors of Xorway 
and Denmark had crossed the cold northern seas to Iceland 
and Greenland, and it is now thought that they had reached 
the shores of the American continent at a point they called 
Vineland. 

Christopher Columbus. — Among the many persons who 
wished to go on voyages of discovery was one whose name 
is known to us all, and will be as long as America exists. 
He was born at Genoa, in Italy, about the year 1435, and 
was named Christopher Columbus. His father was a cloth 
weaver: but the people of Genoa were great sailors, and 
Ci>lumbus was sent to sea when he was but fourteen years 
old, and became a verv skilful sailor. 



THE UNITED STATES. 



13 



At that time Tiulia and China were known to he eoun- 
tries of great weaUh, hut they eouhl he reaehed only hy 
long and eostly journeys overland. Caravans erossed the 
deserts and the mountams of Asia to these tar-otf lands, 
and hrought haek the silks of China and the jewels and 
spices of India at great expense and trouble. AVas there 
no easier way to reach those rich regions ? Colunilnis 
thought there was. He believed that the earth was round, 
that the ocean must extend from the shores of Europe to 
the shores of Asia, and that if he sailed to the west across 
this ocean he would he sure to reach those distant lands. 
He did not know how far it was round the earth, hut he 
was sure that land lay beyond the ocean. 

It Avas not easy to nuike men 
believe this. For eighteen long- 
years Columbus tried in vain to 
get the Kings of Spain and Portu- 
gal to aid him in his plan. He 
grew sick at heart with delay and 
disappointment. At last the 
Queen of Spain said that he 
should have the ships and men 
he asked for. If money could 
not he had she would lend her 

jewels to pay for them. And thus it was that Columlnis got 
his ships. Three small vessels were given him, — we call them 
ships, hut they were little larger than the sloops and yachts 
which we may see every day moAT.ng up and down our large 
rivers. Two of them, the Pinta and the Nina, had no decks 
except at the prow and stern. Only one of them had a 
complete deck, the Santa Maria, commanded hy Columbus 
himself. This vessel was ninety feet long, and had a crew 

of sixtv-six sailors. 

fj . - - . . 

2 




COLUMBUS. 



14 AN ELEMEi\TARV HISTORY OF 

It seems strange to us that it took so many years to 
induce the rulers of a great kingdom to furnish such ships 
for a voyage across the ocean and the discovery of a new 
world. Many river merchants to-day could tit out a much 
hetter expedition at a few days' notice. Nothing could 
show more clearly how the world has grown in riches and 
enterprise during the last four hundred years. 

C\)luml)us had almost as much trouble to get his sailors 
as his ships. Men were afraid to go with him. Mauy of 
those wdio sailed with him were forced to do so hy order of 
the king, and went on hoard liis ships full of fear. There 
were one hundred and twenty persons in all in the expedi- 
tion which set sail from the port of Palos, in Spain, on the 
3d of August, 1492, one of the days to be remembered in 
the history of the world. 

The Voyage of Discovery. — Let us stop Ikm'C and think 
of the task before our bold mariner. lie had set sail on 
the most important voyage that had ever been undertaken 
in the histcuy of mankind. Day by day his ships left the 
known world farther behind them. Day by day new 
wonders and new terrors rose l)efore them. They sailed 
far into that vast ocean upon which no soul had ever before 
ventured far from land. Their fears increased as they went 
onward. The needle of the compass no longer pointed 
exactly north. The winds blew them steadily westward ; 
but these same winds might hinder them from ever coming 
back. They were scared by the distance they had gone, 
though Columbus was wise enough not to let them know 
how far this was. 

The men demanded to be taken back ; they almost broke 
into open mutiny, and some of them talked of throwing 
Columbus overboard and going back without him. Yet he 
was not to be turned from his purpose, lie had set sail for 



THE UNITED STATES. 



15 



riiilia, Jind he was determined to go on. lie was still sure 
that land lay l)eyond the seas, and that in time they would 
reach it. 

Approach to Land. — Two months of this wonderful voy- 
age passed away. Then the hearts of the sailors grew glad 
as their eyes beheld welcome signs. Land birds were seen 
flying about the ships. One of the men picked up out of 
the water a branch of a tree, on wliich there were fresh red 




I,AMJIN<; OF COLUMBUS. 



berries. A piece of carved wood floated past them, and also 
some drifting sea-weed, with live crabs clinging to it. Hope 
now took the place of fear; all eyes looked far ahead in 
search of land. 

At last it came. During the night before the 12th of 
October a distant light was seen shining across the waters. 



16 AN ELEMENTARV HISTORY OF 

When morning came Columbus, from the deck of his httle 
ship, gazed witli joy and triumph on the green shores of the 
land he had so long hoped to see. There it lay before him, 
briirht and beautiful, — a sunnv island, covered with forest 
trees, — a scene of beauty on Avhich the eyes of civilized man 
had never before gazed. 

The voyage was over; the victory was gained. Tbe 
greatest discovery in human history had been made. Yet 
he who made it never knew how great his Avork had been. 
To the day of his death Columbus believed that it was the 
coast of India he had reached, and he gave the name of 
Indians to the strange, red-skinned natives who crowded out 
of the woods to gaze with wonder on his vessels. 

It was in this way that the natives of America came to 
be called Indians, after a country thousands of miles away. 
Little did Columbus dream of the great continent of America, 
with its plains and mountains, its lakes and forests, peopled 
then only by savages, but which was in time to become the 
seat of one of the greatest and noblest of nations. 

The Landing of Columbus. — At the break of day, with 
waving banners and ringing music, Columbus was rowed 
to the shore. He was richly dressed in scarlet, and bore 
in his hand the great banner of Spain, with its rich hues 
of red and gold. The captains of the other vessels bore 
the banner designed by Columbus himself, in the centre 
of which Avas a green cross. On reaching the shore the 
admiral kneeled and kissed the ground; then rising, he 
drew his sword, and declared that the island which he 
had discovered belonged to the King and Queen of Spain. 
The natives looked on in Avonder and admiration. They 
did not dream of the misery all this meant for them. 

The poor natives supposed that the AA^hite men had come 
from heaA^en. Columbus gave them glass beads, and in 



THE UNITED STATES. 



17 



return thej gave what they had, — parrots and balls of cotton. 
They wore some ornaments made of gold, and Columbus 
asked them by signs where gold w^as to be found. They 
pointed to the south. The sailors returned to their ships 
and sailed south among the beautiful islands of those seas 
until they reached the large island now known as Hayti. 
Columbus named it Hispaniola. From there they sailed 
back to Spain. 

The Reception in Spain. — The excitement in Spain was 
very great when Columbus and his companions returned 
with their remarkable story. Men heard with wonder of 
lands beyond the seas, inhabited by a race of red-skinned 
savages, and rich beyond their dreams. It w^as said that the 
sands of every river shone with grains of gold, that the 
meanest Indians wore ornaments of gold and jewels, and 
that the w^alls of the houses glittered with pearls. None 
of these stories w^ere too w^ild for men to believe, and 
many grew eager to visit this New World of wealth and 
splendor. 

Columbus and his men entered the streets of Barcelona 
in a grand procession to meet the King and Queen of Spain. 
The red Indians, with their decorations of tropical feathers 
and golden ornaments, were looked upon with wonder. 
The bright-winged birds, the strange-shaped parrots, the 
rare plants and fruits, the unknown fabrics which were dis- 
played in the procession, all excited admiration. Columbus 
rode triumphantly onward, in rich attire, surrounded by a 
brilliant cavalcade of Spanish nobles, to receive the high 
honors bestowed upon him by the king and queen. Europe 
had never seen a procession like this, for never before had 
the wonders of a new world been shown to the eyes of the 
Old World, as Europe was afterwards called. 

Yet this w^as almost the last happy moment in the life of 



Ig AN ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

the great discoverer. The remainder of his life was saddened 
by the injustice of men and the ingratitude of his sovereigns. 
He made three other voyages to America, and in the third 
voyage discovered the main-land of South America, near the 
mouth of the Orinoco River. From one of his voyages he 
was sent home in chains by his enemies. He had not even 
the honor of giving his name to the continent he had dis- 
covered. The name of America was taken from Amerigo 
Vespucci, whose account of the ^N'ew World was the first to 
be printed. Columbus died in 1506, of a disease brought on 
by his hardships, troubles, and sufferings, a victim of the 
ingratitude of Spain. He gave orders that the chains which 
had been so shamefully fastened on his limbs should be 
buried in the o-rave with him. 



II.— LATPJR VOYAGES. 

The discovery of America by Columbus was the greatest 
event that had taken place for hundreds of years. If such 
a discovery should be made in our days, we may be sure that 
it would not be long before many vessels would be off to the 
new land. But in those days men were poor and news 
spread slowly. Ships were few and small, and kings and 
people had not much money. Most of what they had was 
spent in wars. Spain sent vessels from time to time to the 
rich islands which Columbus had discovered, but the other 
nations were very slow to send out ships. 

The Cabots. — England was the first to follow Spain. The 
town of Bristol, in England, was then a great shipping port. 
There lived in this town a merchant named John Cabot, 
who was born at Venice. This man wished to go on a voy- 
age of discovery, and got permission from the king, Henry 
Vn., to do so. He fitted up a ship, took with him his son, 



THE UNITED STATES. 19 

and sailed across the ocean until he reached the frozen coast 
of Labrador. This was in 1497. 

Cabot's papers and maps are lost, and all we know of his 
voyage is that he found the country cold and barren, and saw 
a great many white bears. It is said that after his return 
he was called " The Great Admiral," and went about dressed 
in rich clothing and followed by crowds of people. 

The next year his son, Sebastian Cabot, sailed to America. 
He also reached land at Labrador, but he kept on southward 
until he reached the coast of Virginia or Carolina. Like 
his father, he was received with honor on his return. Men 
called him " The Great Seaman," and Edward VL gave him 
a pension. He lived to be very old, but the time and place 
of his death are unknown. Thus did England honor the 
men who discovered a continent. 

The Fishermen. — [N'ot long after this the daring fishermen 
of Europe began to make voyages across the ocean. Their 
fishing vessels reached Newfoundland and went on as far 
as Nova Scotia. One of these men, named John Denys, 
sailed up the Gulf of St. Lawrence in 1506. But they were 
after fish, not honor, and did not trouble themselves to 
report discoveries. 

Verrazano. — France did not send an expedition to the 
New World till 1524. Then the thought came to Francis I., 
the king, that he had as much right as Spain to the wealth of 
these distant lands. So he had a ship made ready, and gave 
the command of it to an Italian seaman named Yerrazano, 
who sailed away to the north as far as Nova Scotia. He 
entered the harbor of Newport, Ehode Island, where he found 
grape-vines growing, and began to trade with the Indians. 

But the red men were afraid of their visitors, and would not 
let them land. They let down their goods to the boats with 
ropes from the tops of steep rocks. We do not know what 



20 ^^ ELEMENTARY HISTGRY OF 

these goods were, but they Avoukl take nothing in exchange 
but knives, fish-hooks, and tools for cuttino:. These savas^es 
seemed to know well what would be of use to them. 

Now we may know what gave Spain, England, and France 
the claim to these new lands. They sent ships across the 
ocean and took a look at them from the sea, and then said 
that all the land they had seen belonged to them. As for 
the Indians, no one thought that they had any claim to the 
country. They were looked on as little better than so many 
flies, that might be brushed aside by any one that was strong 
enough to do it. 

Cartier's Voyag-es. — Francis I. was busy in wars with his 
neighbors, and did not send out any more ships for ten 
years. Then two ships set sail under a captain named 
Jacques Cartier. These ships entered the Gulf of St. Law- 
rence, where Cartier landed and set up a cross, with the 
king's coat of arms fastened to it. This was done to claim 
the country for the King of France. 

Cartier made two more voyages, 
and sailed up the great St. Lawrence 
Eiver as far as where the city of 
Montreal now stands. He called 
the country Canada from the Indian 
word " Kannatha,'' which means vil- 
lage, but which he thought was the 
Indian name for the whole country. 
Ponce de Leon. — While the Eng- 
poNCE DE LEON. lish aud Frcncli were making these 

discoveries the Spaniards Avere not 
idle. They were sending ships from Spain and from the West 
Indies, and many discoveries and settlements were made. 
One adventurer, named Ponce de Leon, set out in 1512 on 
a romantic voyage. He had heard of a magical fountain 




THE UNITED STATES. 21 

which would bring back youth to every man who bathed in 




VII \\ OF III MMO 



^\I)KI U - V.\\, 1 L()UII)\ 



search for it he 
found a new coun- 
try, which he called Florida. He did not discover the 



22 AN ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

magical fountain, and got death instead of life from his 
effort. But the sick and feeble still go to that " land of 
flowers" in search of health, though no one now hopes to 
And anywhere the fountain of youth. 

Balboa. — Another Spaniard, named Balboa, crossed the 
isthmus which connects iTorth and South America, and 
looked with wonder on the waters of that great Pacific 
Ocean which no white man's eyes had ever seen before. ITe 
had made a long and dangerous journey over mountains and 
through fierce tribes of Indians, but he was paid for all his 
trouble when he saw, from the summit of a lofty hill, the 
waters of that great ocean, brightly shining in the rays of 
the sun. ^ever had man made a more glorious discovery, 
or human eyes gazed on a nobler sight. 

Three years after the death of Balboa, a Spanish fleet, 
under Fernando Magellan, sailed round South America, 
through the strait that bears his name, and came out on 
the waters of this great ocean. Magellan's ships were the 
first that ever sailed round the globe, and proved in this 
way that the earth is round. 

Before many years had passed the Spaniards did some 
bold and marvellous deeds on the American continent. One 
captain, named Cortez, with a few hundred men, conquered 
the great empire of Mexico ; and another, named Pizarro, 
did the same in the rich kingdom of Peru. They sent to 
Spain great quantities of gold and silver. But the Indians 
were treated by them with much cruelty, and millions of 
the red men died of hardship before the Spaniards had been 
many years in their land. 

Another Spaniard, named Karvaez, landed at Florida in 
1528, and Avent fiir to the north. He and his comrades 
were in search of gold ; l)ut instead of rich cities, like 
those of Mexico, they found (^dy swamps and forests and 



THE UNITED STATES. 



23 




fighting Indians, and of three hundred only four came back 
alive, 

Hernando de Soto. — There is one more Spaniard about 
whom we nmst speak, for he was 
the first white man whose eyes fell 
upon the great Mississippi River, 
and his adventures were very inter- 
est! n 2^. While the other nations 
of Europe were sending ships to 
look at the coast of the ^ew World, 
Hernando de Soto was wandering 
fiir through its interior and mak- 
ing important discoveries. dk soto. 

In 1539, De Soto landed in 
Florida Avith an army of about six hundred men, and with 
plenty of arms and provisions. He w^as a soldier w^ho had 
been in Peru wdtli Pizarro, and he wished to conquer Florida 
as Pizarro had conquered Peru. The whole country to the 
far west was then called Florida, and De Soto expected to 
find there ffreat cities and much o:old and silver, such as 
had been found in Peru and Mexico. He did not dream 
that he would find only tribes of poor savages, with no treas- 
ures of any value to him, and that he would never leave 
their country alive. 

De Soto's Expedition. — The overland march of the Span- 
iards w^as a long and tiresome one. The men soon wanted 
to go back, but De Soto would not listen to them. From 
time to time the Indians gave him pearls, or ornaments of 
gold, and this kept him full of hope. He felt sure there 
must be rich nations ahead, and he kept marching on and 
on, seeking the gold which he never found. 

The Indians wT're angry at seeing these strangers in their 
country, and at the harm done them by some of the Span- 



^4 A^ ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

iards, and many fierce battles took place. The Spaniards 
were always victorious, but numbers of them were killed, 
and they suiFered much from the want of food. 

De Soto led his army along the coast lands of the Gulf 
of Mexico, through tribe after tribe of Indians. These men 
in iron armor, with their prancing horses and shining arms, 
their banners and music and waving plumes, must have 
been a strange vision to the ignorant savages. But the 
natives soon found that those whom they at first took to be 
gods were only men, and very cruel men, and they fought 
them at every step. 

The Mississippi. — Yet De Soto kept on. In time he 
reached a point near where the city of Memphis now stands. 
Here, to his delight, he saw before him a mighty river, the 
great stream now known as the Mississippi. It was with 
proud eyes that the Spaniards gazed on this noble stream, 
which they were the first white men to behold. 

They soon had to cross this river to escape the Indians, 
and they roamed for many miles through the country on the 
other side. The Indians here wished to be friendly, l)ut the 
Spaniards treated them badly, and they became angry and 
tried to kill the whites. 

For three years De Soto and his men had been in the 
wilds of America, and had found nothing but hard marching, 
fighting, and the pangs of hunger. At length they decided 
to return to their own country. But the bold leader did not 
live to see his native land again. Worn out with his toil, 
he died on the banks of the o:reat river he had discovered, 
and was buried in its waters to save his body from the fury 
of the Indians. He was sunk in the waves at dead of night, 
and his followers began to build themselves boats, for they 
did not dare to try to return by land. 

AVhen their boats were ready they launched them on the 



THE UNITED STATES. 25 

stream, and for seventeen days they floated down its waters. 
For fifty days more tliey sailed about in the Gulf of Mexico, 
until they reached a small Spanish settlement, from which 
they were sent to the island of Cuba. 

They had gone out strong in number and hope and 
splendid in dress and arms. They came back a few ragged 
and half-starved men, without gold to show, and with only 
battles and sufl:erings to tell of And so ended one of the 
greatest and proudest of the Spanish expeditions in America. 

III.— THE INDIANS. 

Who owned the Land? — The English, the French, the 
Spanish, and other nations of Europe, as we have said, sent 
ships to America, and for a long time afterwards there were 
disputes and fights among them to decide who owned the 
land, and how it should be divided. Many good men now 
think that it did not belong to any of them, but to the old 
inhabitants of the country, and that the white men were 
little better than land pirates. 

Who were these old inhabitants ? Everywhere that the 
white men had landed they had found tribes of red or cop- 
per-colored men, some of whom were gentle and friendly, 
others fierce and warlike. Before we go on with our story 
we must tell something about these people. 

The Indians, as Columbus had named them, were found 
in every part of ^orth and South America, and had been 
there for a long time. Some of them were civilized, but 
the most of them were savages, and lived in a very rude 
manner. The Indians of this country which we now know 
as the United States were all savages, and were a fierce and 
cruel people, who spent much of their time in killing one 
another. Many of them dwelt in the forests, and lived by 
B 3 



26 AN ELEMENTART HISTORY OF 

hunting. Others raised crops of Indian corn, and dwelt in 
towns and viUag-es. 

The Mound-Builders. — Long ago, no one can tell how 
long, a people dwelt in this region who seem to have been 
very active and industrious. We know this because much 
of their work remains. In some of the Western States 
there are hills of earth, called by us mounds, which were 
made by the hands of men. Most of these are small, but 
some are very large. 

In these mounds have been found tools of stone and other 
substances, pots made of burnt clay, stone pipes, pieces of 
copper, and many other things. Some of these were made 
with great care and skill. The Mound-Builders seem to 
have been a very different people from the Indians. Some 
of their mounds must have taken years to build and the 
labor of thousands of people! 

Who these people were and what became of them nobody 
knows. Most writers think they were driven away or killed 
by the Indians. Some think that they went south, and that 
the tribes which De Soto found there descended from them. 
These tril)es had great mounds like those of the north, and 
had tools and ornaments, and many towns with temples and 
priests, and strong governments. 

The Indians. — All we are sure of is that when white men 
came to America the country in which we now live was 
covered with forests, in which savages lived and hunted. 
These people were of a copper color, with black eyes and 
hair, and were divided into tribes. Some of them lived by 
raising corn and other vegetables, and others by hunting. 
Most of them dwelt in little tents covered with skin or bark, 
and called " wigwams," but some tribes built large houses, 
in which many families lived together. 

The Indians did not care much for their houses. They 



THE UNITED STATES. 27 

liked better to spend their time in the open air. They were 
very fond of roving about through the forests, hunting wild 
animals and fighting with one another. They dressed in 
the skins of these animals, painted their faces and bodies, 
and ornamented themselves with feathers and the claws of 
wild beasts. All the hair of their head was shaved off, ex- 
cept one lock, called the scalp-lock. AVhen one of them 
wa-^ killed in war this lock was used to pull oif his scalp, or 
the skin of liis head. The Indians were very proud of the 
scalps whicli they took in war. 

They were fond of fighting, and very cruel to their prison- 
ers. It was their custom to tie these to a stake or tree, heap 
wood round them, and burn them to death. And they tor- 
tured them in every cruel way they could. The Indians 
fought with bows and arrows, and with stone hatchets 
called " tomahawks." But after the whites came to America 
they got iron hatchets and fire-arms, and dressed themselves 
in blankets instead of the skins they had worn before. 
Some tribes built forts of timber, often in the midst of 
swamps. These were strong, and not easy to capture. 

Home Life. — At home the women had to do all the work. 
The men were too proud to do much but hunt and fight. 
They were very expert in making stone pipes and weapons, 
and canoes of birch bark in which they paddled about the 
rivers. These canoes were very light. They could be car- 
ried long distances through the forests, and they floated 
lightly in the water. Fire was obtained by rubbing two 
sticks together until they became so hot as to break into a 
blaze.* 

The food of the Indians consisted of corn and a few 

* Without fire civilization could not exist, so this method of makino; fire 
may he looked upon as one of the first steps towards the hii;h civilization 
which we now enjoy. 



28 AN ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

vegetables they raised, and of the game they killed in the 
forests. They had tobacco, of which they were very fond, 
and which they soon taught the white men to smoke. In 
return the white men taught them to drink whisky, — a much 
worse gift than that of tobacco. Some writers think that 
whisky has killed more Indians than the musket. 

Government. — The tribes of the Indians w^ere divided 
into smaller bodies, which may l)e called clans. Each clan 
paid great respect to some animal, which it called its totem ^ 
such as the wolf, the tortoise, the bear, etc. The clans had 
chiefs whom they called sachems, wdio ruled them in peace, 
and other chiefs who ruled them in war. A number of 
such clans formed a tribe, and several tribes joined together 
formed a league or confederacy. One of these leagues was 
known as the Iroquois, or the Six Nations, wdio lived in the 
region now known as New York, and there w^ere others 
elsewhere. 

Religion. — The religious ideas of the Indians were very 
simple. Each Indian thought that he was taken care of by 
the spirit of the animal that formed his totem. He had great 
respect for this animal, though he did not mind killing the 
totem of other Indians. Most of them believed in spirits of 
the winds and stars, and many of them thought that there 
was a Great Spirit, who ruled over all men and all things. 

Their priests they called '' medicine men." These were 
their doctors as well as priests, and did everything by charms 
and spells. Many of them were great rogues. The tribes 
had religious songs and dances, and many other ceremonies, 
some of w^hich were strange and noisy, and some very pain- 
ful and cruel. 

For money the Indians used round pieces of sea-shells, in 
which they bored holes and strung them on strings. This 
they called wampum. They knew nothing about reading 



1 



THE UNITED STATES. 



29 



and writing, but used simple marks and signs l)y wliich they 
could tell one another many things. 

Theu' Sagacity. — The Indians were l)rave and bold, but 
could not be trusted. 
They would do anything 
to kill those whom they 
hated. They had won- 
derful skill in tracking 
their enemies through 
the wilds and forests. 
Where white men could 
see nothing, the Indians 
could see the marks of 
footsteps on the dead 
leaves or the dry ground, 
and could follow a trail 
for many miles as easily 
as a dog can follow an 
animal by its scent. 

This made them very 
dangerous to the whites. 
They could travel very 
far in a day, and could 
go in a straight line 
through thick forests 
where the sun could not 
be seen. Many Avhite 
travellers were captured 
and killed by them. But 
in time some of the whites 
learned the Indian ways, 
and could follow a trail as well as they. 

The Southern Tribes. — In the country near the Gulf of 

3* 




A l'LLBL(> IM)I VN. 



30 ^N ELEMEi\TARr HISTORY OF 

Mexico the Indians Avere more civilized than in the north. 
They had many towns or large villages, and their chiefs had 
much power. The sun was their god, and they had temples, 
with numbers of priests and much ceremony. Farther west, 
in the Rocky Mountain region, were tribes who built great 
stone houses, with hundreds of rooms, large enough for a 
whole tribe to live in one house. These are called the 
Pueblo Indians. 

Quarrels with the Whites. — The Indians at first were 
friendly to the whites. They gave them land and were 
willing to help them in any way they could. But it was 
not long before quarrels began. Sometimes the white men 
were in the wrong, and sometimes the Indians, but dreadful 
scenes followed. The Indians would march silently through 
the forests and fall on the settlements, burning the houses 
and killing the people, or taking them away as prisoners. 
The whites would attack the tribes in return, and kill all the 
Indians they could. 

But the whites were the strongest and drove the Indians 
back step by step, and took possession of nearly the whole 
country. The savages now own only a small portion of the 
great continent which was once all their own. But they are 
forced to live in peace, and they are happier and better off 
than when most of their time was spent in war and blood- 
shed. 

ly.— FRENCH AND ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS. 

Many years passed away before any wdiite men came to 
live in the country which is now kno\A'n as the United 
States. The Spaniards had many towns and rich colonies 
in the West Indies, in Mexico, and in South America, but 
the northern country was still left to the Indians, ^o one 
cared to settle on its shores. Ko gold or silver had been 



THE UNITED STATES. 31 

I'ouud there, and peo[)le in those days seemed to think there 
^\ii^ nothing else worth having. Since then we have learned 
that the soil of the United States is far more valuable than 
all the gold and silver which the Spaniards found in 
America. 

Ribault's Colony. — It was not till 1562 that any settlers 
came. Then some Frenchmen crossed the ocean and built a 
fort at Port Koyal, in South Carolina. They named the 
country Carolina, after Charles IX., the King of France. 
These men were known as Huguenots, or people of the 
Protestant religion, while the religion of France was the 
Catholic. They had left their country because they were 
badly treated on account of their difference in belief. 

Jean Ribault, who brought them, soon w^ent back to 
France. After he left the colony did not get on well. 
Most of the men were lazy and would not work, and the 
Indians soon refused to give them food. Many of them 
died, and those who remained alive built a rude sort of ves- 
sel and sailed away home. 

The Florida Colony. — Two years afterwards another party 
of Frenchmen came to America and built a fort near the 
mouth of the St. John's River, in Florida. This colony 
was as idle as the other. The men spent their time in hunt- 
ing for gold and fighting the Indians. They would not 
take the trouble to raise food from the earth, and they suf- 
fered from hunger till vessels came with food from France. 
Some of them turned pirates, and sailed away to rob the 
Spanish settlements. 

St. Augustine. — The Spaniards were very angry wdien 
they learned that the French had settled in Florida. They 
claimed this country as their own, and sent out a party to 
take possession and to drive out the French. This party 
was led by a man named Menendez, who laid out a town 



32 AN ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

which he called St. Augustine. It is of interest to remem- 
ber that this town, laid out in 1565, is the oldest town in 
the United States. Tiie ruins of the old Spanish buildings 
may still be seen there. 

The Massacre. — And now began those terrible wars of 
white men which have shed so much blood on the soil of 
this land. Up to that time the fighting had all been with 
the Indians, l)ut now the whites began the dreadful work 
of killing one another. JVIenendez led his men through the 
woods and swamps of Florida to the French settlement. 
There they took Fort Carolina — the French fort — by sur- 
prise, and killed all the people they found in it, except a 
few who escaped to the woods. 

The Spaniards did a more cruel deed than this. A part 
of the French had gone to attack St. Augustine, but their 
vessel was wrecked on the coast, and the men barely saved 
their lives. They wandered half starved through the woods 
till they found themselves in sight of St. Augustine. 

Menendez told them that if they would come over the 
river into the town no harm should be done to them. But 
as fast as they came over he had their arms tied behind 
them, and he then set his soldiers on them and murdered 
them all. Four hundred men w^ere slain in that awful 
massacre. 

^lenendez had these words placed on the trees near by : 
" I do this not as to Frenchmen, but as to Lutherans." It 
Avas religious hatred that made him do this cruel deed. 

The Massacre revenged. — When the news of this deed 
of bloodshed came to France the people were full of anger. 
One soldier, named Dominique de Gourgues, resolved to be 
revenged. He sailed for Florida with three small ships, and 
took Fort Carolina by surprise, as the Spaniards had before 
taken it from the French. There were more than three 



THE UNITED STATES. 



33 



hundred men in it, most of whom Avere killed. Only sixty 
were taken prisoners. 

De Gourgues wrote the following* words, and placed them 
where all could see : "I do this not to Spaniards, but to 
traitors, thieves, and murderers." Then he hanged all his 
prisoners, destroyed the fort, and sailed back to France. 
The murder of the Protestants had been terribly revenged. 

Sir Humphrey Gilbert. — The English were the next peo- 
ple who tried to make settlements in America. Sir Hum- 
phrey Gilbert came across the ocean in 1583 with five vessels 
to form a colony. But a storm arose, and the leader and 
four of his ships, with all on board, went to the bottom. 
Only one ship escaped to take the news back to England. 

Sir Walter Raleig-h. — The next year a young man named 
Walter Raleigh, half-l)rother to Gilbert, crossed the ocean 
to the New World, and in 1585 he sent seven ships with 
a hundred persons on board to make a settlement on 
Roanoke Island, on the coast of North 
Carolina. 

These people soon got into trouble 
with the Indians, and all returned to 
England in an English vessel that 
happened to stop at the island. They 
took with them the first tobacco that 
was ever seen in Europe. Sir Walter 
Raleigh is said to have been the first 
man who smoked tobacco in Europe. 
The story is told that a servant who 

came into his room while he was smoking thought that he 
was in flames, and threw a bucket of water over him to put 
out the fire. 

The Lost Colony. — The next summer Raleigh sent another 
colony to Roanoke Island. A child, named Virginia Dare, 




34 AN ELEMENTARY HISTORV OF 

was Lorn in this colony, — the first English child born in 
America. 

There was war then between England and Spain, and it 
was three years before another vessel could be sent across 
the ocean. When it got to Roanoke Island the colony was 
gone. Kot a man, woman, or child could be found. There 
were some letters cut in the bark of a tree, and that was 
all that Avas left to show that white men had ever been 
there. 

Raleigh sent vessel after vessel to search for his lost col- 
ony, but no trace of it could ever be found. What became 
of the colonists no one will ever know. If the Indians knew 
they would not tell, and the secret died with them. 

Other Expeditions. — No other efforts were made to place 
colonies in the region of the United States till after the year 
1600, more than a century after the discovery by Columbus. 
One captain, named Bartholomew Gosnold, brought out a 
colony to America in 1602; but he took it back again, 
because he w^as short of food and the men feared they might 
starve. 

The French were more successful than the English. In 
1605 a Frenchman, named De Monts, placed a colony in 
Nova Scotia, at a place which he called Port Royal. Tliis 
place, which became famous in after years, is on the coast 
of the Bay of Fundy. It was the first permanent French 
colony in America. 

Champlain in America. — Before speaking of the English 
and Dutch colonies that were formed soon afterwards we 
must say something about the doings of a Frenchman, 
named Samuel de Champlain, who was the first white man 
that had much to do with the Indians of the north. 

He went up the St. Lawrence River in 1603, and came 
again in 1608, when he founded the city of Quebec. This old 



THE UNITED STATES. 



35 



city still stands on the rocky hill where he placed it. It is a 
quaint, old-fashioned place, with many ancient houses. 

Champlain was a bold and active man and very fond of 
travel and adventure. He had the hope that he might find 
a way across the country by the rivers and lakes, and so 
reach China. But there were savage Indians in his wa)-. 
In what we know as the State of New York were the Iroquois 
tribes of Indians, or the " Five Nations" as they are usually 
called. Farther north were the Hurons and other tribes of 
the St. Lawrence, who were enemies of the Iroquois. 

The First Indian Battle. — Champlain and some com- 
panions went in boats up the St. Lawrence and the St. John 




BVTTLK BLIWJ.LN 1111. >K1 Mil \^l>iM)iv^•^ 

Rivers, while the Hurons and other tribes followed in their 
canoes. They were going to light with their enemies, the 



36 AN ELEMENTARY H J STORY OF 

Iroquois, and the French had promised to help them. It 
was not long before the boats came out on a beautiful lake 
which the eyes of wdiite men had never seen before. It is 
called Lake Champlain, after its discoverer. 

On the shores of this lake they met the Iroquois, and a 
fierce battle began, — the first battle with the Indians in the 
northern part of the New World. The Iroquois were brave 
warriors and fought boldly, but when Champlain and the 
tw^o w^hite men who were with him stood forward and tired 
their muskets they were tilled with terror. They had never 
seen anything of the kind before. The noise seemed to 
them like thunder. Their chiefs began to fall dead, with 
nothing to show what had killed them. 

With a yell of fear the Indians fled. They left everything 
in their fright. Some of them were killed; more were 
taken prisoners. These the Hurons took back with them to 
torture and burn at the stake. 

Champlain had many other adventures among the Indians. 
In 1614 he went south with a w^ar party of Hurons, and 
made an attack on a fort of the Iroquois. The tight was a 
hard one, but the Hurons were driven off", and Champlain 
was twice wounded. 

The Reveng-e of the Iroquois. — The Iroquois took a terri- 
ble revenge on their enemies. Champlain, whom they were 
afraid of, died in 16r35. In 1648 they made an attack on the 
French in Canada, and killed a great many of them. The 
tribe of the Hurons was broken up and destroyed. For 
many years afterwards the Iroquois were lords of that region 
and kept the French shut up in their forts. They had ceased 
to fear the tire-arms of the whites. 

The Iroquois consisted of five tribes, the Mohawks, the 
Oneidas, the Onondagas, the Cayugas, and the Senecas. 
Afterwards another tribe^ the Tuscaroras, joined them, and 



THE UNITED STATES. 37 

they became known as the " Six Nations." They gave much 
trouble to the whites in hiter years. 

Henry Hudson. — There was one other voyage of which 
we must speak. This was made by the Dutch, who then 
were a very active nation, and thought they ought to have 
a share in the New World. So they sent across the ocean a 
vessel wliich had the odd name of the Half Moon. Its cap- 
tain w^as Henry Hudson, an Englishman. This Avas in the 
year 1609. 

The Half Moon sailed along the coast until it reached 
^N'ew York Bay. Then it went up this bay^ until it came 
into the great river which has ever since been known as 
Hudson River. Here some of the Indian chiefs came on 
board and received a fatal present from the hands of the 
captain. We have told how the tobacco of the Indians was 
taken to Europe. In return the white men l)rouglit brandy 
to the Indians. Hudson o^ave the chiefs some of this strong: 
liquor to drink, and they l)ecame intoxicated. This was 
probably the first knowledge the Indians had of that poison 
wliich has since killed more of them than the rifle. 

The Half Moon sailed up the river as far as it could go. 
On coming back the Dutch Avere attacked by the Indians, 
but some cannon were fired and the savages fled in the ut- 
most terror. Hudson now sailed back to Europe with the 
story of the discovery he had made. He afterwards discovered 
Hudson Bay, which was also named after him. Here his 
crew broke into a mutiny, put Hudson and eight others into 
a small boat, and sailed away and left them. They were 
never heard of again. But the bold sailor had made him- 
self a great reputation. Hudson River and Hudson Bay 
are still called by his name, and the city of IN'ew York — the 
largest city of America — is built on Manhattan Island, at the 
mouth of the great river which he discovered. 

4 



38 ^^ ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 



PART I.-QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. 

I. What was known of the world four hundred years ai;o ? Wliat was 
thought would happen to vessels that sailed out of sight of land ? What is 
the mariner's compass ? What journey did Marco Polo make ? What did 
the Northmen discover? Who was Christopher Columbus? How did he 
think Asia could be reached ? What troubles did he have ? When did ho 
sail on his voyage of discovery ? Why were the sailors afraid ? What made 
them think they were near land ? On what day was land discovered ? What 
were the inhabitants like ? Why were they called Indians ? Describe the 
landing of Columbus. What stories were told by the sailors when they re- 
turned to Spain? How was Columbus received? What was his history 
afterwards ? 

II. Who was John Cabot? Describe his voyage. W^hat did Sebastian 
Cabot discover? W^hat did the fishermen do? Describe the voyage of Ver- 
razano. AVhat did Cartier do ? Who was Ponce de Leon ? What did he 
discover? What did Balboa discover? What conquests were made by Cor- 
tez and Pizarro ? Where did Narvaez go ? What did De Soto seek ? Where 
did he journey ? Describe his death and burial. 

III. What kind of people were found in America ? Who were the Mound- 
Builders ? What relics did they leave? What were the Indians like? How 
did they live? How did they treat their prisoners? How did they fight? 
How did they live in their homes? How were they governed ? What was 
the character of their religion ? What did they use for money ? What is 
said of their sagacity ? Were the southern tribes more civilized than the 
northern? What did they worship? How did they receive the whites? 
How have the whites treated them? 

IV. Who first settled in the United States ? How did Ribault's colony 
behave? Describe the Florida colony. When did the Spaniards lay out St. 
Augustine? What did Menendez do at Fort Carolina? How did he treat 
the shipwrecked Frenchmen ? What did De Gourges do ? When did Sir 
Humphrey Gilbert come to America ? Where did Sir Walter Raleigh plant 
a colony? Tell how tobacco was first taken to Europe. What became of 
Raleigh's colony ? When and where was the first permanent French colony 
formed? When did Champlain found Quebec? Wliat did he hope to do? 
What lake did he discover? Describe his battle with the Iroquois. How did 
the Iroquois revenge themselves ? What river did Henry Hudson discover ? 
How did he act with the Indian chiefs? What became of Henry Hudson? 
What great citv is built at the mouth of the Hudson River? 



THE UNITED STATES. 



39 



PART U. 

THE ENGLISH COLONIES. 
I.— VIEGINIA. 

The English Companies. — In 1606 two companies were 
formed in Endand to make settlements in America. One 




JAMESTOWN POINT, LOOKING UP THE KIVER. 



of these was called the London Company, and the other 
the Plymouth Company. At that time the whole country 



40 



AN ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 



between the French settlements in the north and the Span- 
ish settlements in the south was named Virginia, after Queen 
Elizabeth, the Virgin Queen of England, ^ow, only a small 
portion of this broad region is called Virginia. 

Both companies sent out colonies in 1607. One of these, 
sent by the Plymouth Company, settled on the coast of 
Maine ; but the people were not satisfied, and went Imck the 
next year. The other, sent by the London Company, was 
told to land on Roanoke Island, where Ealeigh's lost colony 
had been ; but a storm drove the vessels into Chesapeake 
Bay. Here the colonists discovered a beautiful river, which 
they named the James, after the King of England. They 
landed at a point some distance up the river, and formed a 
settlement which they called Jamestown. 

This colony was like all those before it. Xobody wanted 
to work. Some of the men thought they could cross the 
country to the Pacific Ocean. Others spent their time 
hunting for gold. They found a yellow substance which 
they thought was gold, and sent a ship-load of it to England. 
But it was nothing but iron pyrites, or " fool's gold," and 

of no value whatever ; so the gold- 
hunters, who had fancied them- 
selves rich, soon found themselves 
poor again. 

Captain John Smith. — By good 
luck this colony had with it a man 
who was worth more to it than a 
mine of gold. This was Captain 
John Smith, a celebrated soldier, 
who had been in wars in Europe, 
and had gone through many strange 
adventures. Captain Smith was a very active man. He went 
to work himself and kept the colonists at work with him 




JOHN bMini. 



THE UNITED STATES. 



41 



cuttino; down trees and building; houses. Those who would 
not work were given nothing to eat. Some of them swore 
very much, but he soon cured them of this. When night 
came he brought up the swearers and had a can of cold 
water poured down their sleeves for every time they had 
sworn during the day. We may imagine that laziness and 
swearing were quickly broken up in that colony. 

Captain Smith spent much of his time in exploring the 
bay and the country. On one of these journeys he was taken 
prisoner by the Indians, who killed his companions. They 
were about to kill liim too, but he saved his life by showing 
them a small compass which he had with him. The move- 
ments of the magnetic needle seemed to them the work of 
magic, so they let him live, and brought him before their 
great chief, Powhatan. He surprised them still more by 
writing a letter to his friends and receiving an answer from 
them. The Indians could not understand how a piece of 
paper could talk. Smith's friends 
understood what was on it, and the 
savages thought the paper must 
have spoken to them. 

Pocahontas. — But Powhatan did 
not like the English, and he decided 
that his prisoner should be put to 
death. Captain Smith tells us that 
he was laid on the ground, with his 
head on a stone, and that Powhatan 
had lifted a club to dash out his 
brains, when a young Indian girl 
named Pocahontas, the daughter 
of the chief, rushed in and begged her father not to kill 
him. So his life was spared. 

Pocahontas afterwards married an Englishman named 

4- 




POCAHONTAS. 



42 ^N ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

Rolfe, and went with him to England. She did not live 
long after she reached there. Captain Smith had other 
adventures with tlie Indians and much trouble with the 
colonists. In 1609 he was badly hurt by the explosion of a 
bag of gunpowder, and went back to England. He never 
returned to Virginia. 

The Starving Time. — As soon as Captain Smith left the 
colony everything went wrong. [N'obody would work ; they 
ate up all their provisions ; and the Indians were made so 
angry that they would not bring them any food. A terrible 
time followed. The foolish people soon found themselves 
starving. There were nearly five hundred of them, but in 
six months only sixty were alive. In a little time more not 
a soul of til em would have been living if a vessel had not 
come in with provisions. This period was long known as 
" the starving time." 

A new governor, Lord Delaware, came out in this vessel. 
He was a sensible man, and things soon went well again. 
More colonists came, and the land was divided into farms 
and much food raised. The starving time had taught them 
a useful lesson. 

Tobacco Culture. — In 1615 the colonists began to raise 
tobacco. Much of the soil was given to this new crop, and 
so little corn was raised that there began to be danger 
again of want of food. In 1619 a Dutch ship came up 
the James with twenty negroes on board. These were 
sold to the colonists, and were the first slaves brought to 
America. 

The negroes were not the only human beings that were 
sold to the colonists. Until this time the colony had con- 
sisted only of men ; now, young women were sent over from 
England and sold to the colonists as wives. The price paid 
for a wife was one hundred and twenty pounds of tobacco. 



THE UNITED STATES. 43 

Sixty more women were sent afterwards, and the price rose 
to one hnndred and fitly pounds of tobacco. 

The Indian Massacre. — Two years afterwards, in 1622, 
when much of the country around Jamestown had been 
settled, the Indians formed a plan to kill all the white 
people in the colony. They pretended to he very friendly, 
and brought deer and fish and other things to sell. But 
suddenly they drew out their weapons and began to kill 
the settlers. Men, Avomen, and cliildren were cut to pieces, 
and in one morning three hundred and forty-nine persons 
were slain. 

Jamestown was warned in time, and was saved, but very 
few of the whites were left alive in the outer settlements. A 
fierce war followed. The Indians were shot down wherever 
they were seen. The English ofiered peace to them, and 
then rushed on them when they were at work in their corn- 
fields, and killed a great many of them. 

Another Indian massacre took place in 1644, after which 
the red men Avere driven far back into the country, and did 
not give any trouble for many years. 

Bacon's Rebellion. — During these years, and for a long- 
time afterwards, the people of Virginia had trouble with 
their governors. They were not permitted to manage their 
OAvn afiliirs, and much bitter feeling arose. One governor, 
named Berkeley, Avas such a tyrant that the people Avould no 
longer submit to him. 

The Indians Avere again at Avar Avith the Avhites, and a 
young man named Nathaniel Bacon raised a company and 
drove them aAvay. This Avas in 1676. The governor said 
that Bacon Avas a traitor, because he had raised his company 
without permission. But the people Avere so angry that they 
came to Bacon's help, and fighting took place. The gov- 
ernor Avas driven out of Jamestown, and the town itself 



44 



AN ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 



burned to the ground. Nothing of Jamestown now remains 
except the rained walls of an old church. 

Soon after this Bacon died. Berkeley now got into 
power again and began to revenge liimself by hanging his 
enemies. More than twenty of the leaders of the people 
were hung. 

When the king heard of this he ordered Berkeley to come 




RUINS OF THE OLD CHUKCH-TOWKK, JAMESTOWN, VIRGINIA. 



home, and sent out governors in his own name to the colony. 
Other troubles arose, but for the next hundred years Virgiuia 
grew and prospered, and many of its people became rich 
and honored. 



THE UNITED STATES. 



45 



II.— THE PILGKIMS AND THE PURITANS. 

The Pilgrims. — At the time that Captain John Smith was 
having his adventures with the Indians in Virginia, and 
Champhiin Avas fighting with the Iroquois in ]N'ew York, 





L vM)iNb oi riiL niL. 



some EngHsh people had found that they could not live in 
peace at home. They thought that every man ought to 
have a right to read the Bible for himself and form his own 
opinion about it. But the government said that they must 
believe wdiat the Church of England taught. As they could 
not do this, they were treated badly by the government ; so 
they went to Ilohand and lived there for a number of years. 
Then tliey made up their minds to cross the ocean and 
settle in America. They were afraid that if they stayed in 



46 -i^ ELEMENTARY HIS TORY OF 

Holland their children might forget their language and be- 
come in all things like the Dutch. One hundred and two 
of them set sail for America in a little vessel called the 
Mayflower. They did not know just to what part of America 
they would go, but storms made them land at a place near 
Cape Cod. 

It was then the month of December of the year 1620. 
The weather was cold and the ground was covered with 
snow, but the people decided to settle in that region, so they 
landed at a place which had been named Plymouth by Cap- 
tain John Smith, who had explored that coast several years 
before. On reaching the shore they fell on their knees and 
thanked God for having brought them in safety to this new 
land. These people are known as Pilgrims, because they 
had left their homes and crossed the ocean on account of 
their religion, like the old-time pilgrims to the Holy Land. 

The First Winter. — The Pilgrims were not idle, like the 
men of the other colonies we have described. They went 
to work at once to build a house to shelter them and their 
goods. And they formed a government of their own, in 
which every man was to have a vote and to be the equal of 
every other man. But they had great hardships to endure, 
and nearly half of them died before spring. 

When the winter was gone they did not spend their time 
hunting for gold or wandering about the country. They 
kept on building until they had a house for each family, and 
also began to till the soil. The Indians were friendly, and 
showed them how to plant corn. They had with them a 
military man named Captain Miles Standish, but he was a 
very different person from Captain John Smith. He was 
an old soldier who had joined the colony to do their fight- 
ing for them, if any was necessary, — a little man, very short, 
but of a hot temper, — and it was not long before he began 



. THE UNITED STATES. 47 

tlic work of killing Indians. He was so ])old that on one 
occasion he stabbed an Indian chief in the midst of his 
tribe. 

The Plymouth colony was not like any of the others 
formed in America. The people had not been sent out by 
any company, and had no masters beyond the seas. They 
were free to serve God and to take care of themselves in 
their own way. They elected a governor and other officers, 
and formed a little republic of their own. They suffered 
from the cold and from want of food, but the fishing was 
good and there were plenty of clams, so they managed to 
live. The land was soon divided into farms, and every man 
worked for himself, and before long enough corn was raised 
to give them all Ibod. 

Canonicus. — The Indians at first were friendly, but some 
of tliem became uneasy when they saw that the white men 
intended to stay in their country. So Canonicus, the chief 
of the tribe of ^arragansetts, sent them a bundle of arrows 
with a snake-skin tied around them. This meant that if 
the whites did not leave the land the Indians would make 
war upon them. But the governor took the snake-skin and 
filled it with powder and bullets ; then he sent it back to 
Canonicus. The savages were scared when they saw what 
had been sent them. They were afraid to receive it^ and it 
passed from hand to hand and finally came back to the gov- 
ernor at Plymouth. So there was no war at that time. In 
1623 the Indians formed a conspiracy to murder the settlers ; 
but Captain Standish discovered it and killed the ring- 
leaders. After that the Indians kept quiet for years. 

The Massachusetts Bay Colony. — Plymouth was part of 
the country which the king had granted to the Plymouth 
Company, so that the colony came under the charter of this 
company. But they continued to govern themselves in their 



48 ^N ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

own way, and paid no attention to the company. Other 
people came out from time to time. In 1629 five vessel- 
loads sailed over from England and settled at a place in 
Massachusetts Bay, which they called Salem. 

The next year eight hundred more came. There Avere 
now about a thousand men in the colony of Massachusetts 
Bay. These were not all poor people, like those at Ply- 
mouth. Some of them Avere rich, and many of them were 
educated. Like the Pilgrims, it was religious trouble that 
brought them over the ocean. They were called Puritans, 
and had left England because they could not worship God 
in their own way at home. 

The Charter. — The king had given them a charter by 
which they gained the right to govern themselves. They 
did not leave this charter in England, for they did not wish 
to be ruled by a company in London, but they brought it 
across the ocean with them. This was a bold step. The 
reign of liberty in America began with that charter. 

These colonists had much to endure. Many of them died. 
But there were no idle men among them, and they sought 
for corn instead of gold, so that they were soon comfortable. 
Settlements were made all around Massachusetts Bay. Bos- 
ton, Roxbury, Charlestown, and other places were added 
to Salem. The colony grew much faster than that of 
Plymouth. 

Representative Government. — As we have said, the gov- 
ernment was at first in the hands of all the people. They 
met together in the churches and elected their ofiicers, and 
decided any question that came before them. But in 1634 
this was no longer easy to do. The people had increased 
till there were more than three thousand of them. These 
were settled at twenty different places along the sea-shore. 
They could not all come together to decide questions, and 



THE UNITED STATES. 49 

they chose persons to act for them. Tliese met together at 
Boston, Avhere they made hxws and elected officers. The 
first assembly of this kind in America had been formed 
in Yirgiida in 1619, but it did not have the power of the 
Boston assembly, which made all the laws of the colony ; 
and these were carried out by a governor elected by them- 
selves, not by one sent from England. 

Other Colonies. — The Puritans kept on coming across the 
ocean, so that in ten years there were about twenty thousand 
people in ^ew England. These were widely spread through 
the country. Some of them settled in Connecticut. The 
Dutch had built a fort at the mouth of the Connecticut 
River, but they were driven away by the English. There 
were settlements also in ^ew Hampshire and Maine. 

Rog-er Williams. — And now Ave have to tell of some very 
wrong doings of the Puritans. They had come to America 
because they were not allowed to worship God in peace at 
home ; but they soon began to say that nobody should 
worship God in ^ew England except in their way. One 
minister, named Roger Williams, declared that the magis- 
trates had no right to tell a man what his religion should 
be. He said also that the white men had no claim to the 
land unless they paid the Indians for it. 

The Puritans thought that this was dangerous talk, and 
declared that no man should preach such doctrines in their 
churches. Williams would not be silent, so they drove him 
out of the colony. He went into the forests, where the 
Indians took care of him. At length he reached ^arragan- 
sett Bay, and crossed it in an Indian canoe to a place which 
he called Providence. The Indians loved the young exile, 
and Canonicus, the chief, gave him a large tract of land. 

Rhode Island. — There w^ere other persons besides Roger 
Williams who could not live in peace with the Puritans, 

c d 5 



50 AN ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

Many of these followed him. In the settlement which they 
formed every one was allowed to think on religious subjects 
as he pleased. It was one of the lirst places in the world in 
which there was fall religious liberty and in which no man 
was persecuted for his opinions. 

One of the new settlers, named William Coddington, 
bought an island from the Indians, which was called Khode 
Island. This afterwards became the name of the State. A 
charter was given to the colony, and its people slowly grew 
in numbers. They were so afraid of tyrants that when 
Roger Williams refused to be governor the colony went with- 
out one for forty years. Williams was very just and kind 
to the Indians, and they looked on him as their best friend. 

The Quakers. — But the Puritans soon did worse things 
than to drive Roger Williams into the wilderness. When 
it was known in England that there was a colony in America 
formed by people who wished to worship God in peace and 
freedom, others besides the Puritans made haste to come to 
this free land. Among these were a number of the people 
known as Quakers, who had been very harshly treated in 
England. 

Several of these came to Plymouth and Salem, but they 
soon found that they were no better off in America than in 
England. They would not go to war, or pay taxes, or 
attend the Puritan churches, and they would not leave the 
colony when they were ordered to do so. Some of them 
grew so excited as to be half crazy, and would come into 
the meeting-house on Sunday with clothes made of sack- 
cloth, and with ashes on their heads. They did other things 
more foolish still. 

The Persecution. — As they would not leave the colony, 
the Puritans began to persecute them. Some of them were 
whipped in the streets, and others were branded with hot 



THE UNITED STATES. 51 

iron. Four of them were hano^ed. A id not only the ex- 
cited ones, but the quiet and well-behaved ones were treated 
with great severity. The Puritans have been much blamed 
for this cruelty. They had lefc England because men would 
not let them think as they pleased, and now they were act- 
ing the same way to others who wished to think as they 
pleased. But they could not drive the Quakers out by 
severity, and they finally let them alone. 

The Salem Witchcraft. — It was not long before they 
began to persecute another set of people. In those days 
all ignorant persons and some learned ones believed in 
witches. It was thought that certain people had the power 
to bewitch and hurt others by a sort of magic. That was 
the belief all over Europe, and thousands of persons were 
put to death as witches. 

Some poor persons in Salem were accused of being witches, 
and a court was held to try them. Very strange things were 
said to have been done, and fifty of them were declared 
guilty. Twenty of these were hanged. The excitement 
spread, and people of high character were accused of Avitch- 
craft. And now the wiser people began to fear there must 
l)e something wrong in the public belief. When these 
respectable persons were brought to trial, the judges said 
that such persons could not be witches, and set them free. 
The foolish notion died away as quickly as it had risen. 
All sensible people were very much ashamed of themselves 
for having believed in such folly ; and they could not easily 
forget that they had put to death innocent persons for a crazy 
delusion. This excitement continued from 1688 to 1693. 

Mode of Government. — The ^ew England colonies all 
followed Massachusetts in her mode of government. The 
English kings had left the colonists to act as they pleased, 
and there was no company in England that had anything to 



52 AN ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

do with them, so the people were as free as if they had had 
no connection with Enghmd. In all the other colonies there 
were governors sent out hy the king, the companies, or the 
proprietors ; but the Puritans chose their own governors and 
made their own laws. 

We have already told what the government was like. But 
in 1643 a new step in political conditions was made. The 
four colonies of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Haven, 
and Plymouth joined themselves into a league, or confed- 
eracy, and each colony chose two men to represent it. This 
was something like the present government of the United 
States, and the meeting of deputies from the colonies was 
like a little Congress. E'ew England was a free republic at 
that early date. 

The Charters revoked. — But the people of ^N'ew England 
were not left at ease after Charles 11. became king. lie did 
not wish them to have so much liberty, and he declared that 
the charter of Massachusetts was no longer good, and that 
he would rule the colony himself. 

Just then Charles II. died, but the next king, James ir., 
Avas still more severe. He said that all the New England colo- 
nies were his, that he would make the laws and levy the 
taxes, and that the people should have no voice in the gov- 
ernment. He sent Sir Edmund Andros to be royal governor, 
and demanded that all the charters should be given up. 

But the new governor did not succeed very well. When 
he came to Hartford the assembly met to decide whether 
they should obey his order and give up their charter. The 
charter was laid on the table. It was evening and candles 
were lighted. Suddenly the candles all went out and the 
room was left in darkness. When they were relighted the 
charter was gone. It is said that one of the members had 
flung his cloak over the candles and carried off the charter, 



THE UNITED STATES. 53 

,vhich he Lid in a hollow tree, where it stayed for years. 
This tree was long known as the Charter Oak. 

While the governor was in Boston news reached there 
that the people of England had risen against the king. So 
the governor was imprisoned, and the people took the gov- 
ernment again into their own hands. Sir Edmund Andros 
was the last royal governor that was sent to ^ew England. 

in— INDIAN WARS OF NEW ENGLAND. 

Eng-lish and Indians. — The settlers of ^ew England very 
soon had trouble with the Indians. Shortly after the Pil- 
grims landed a chief had come to them, with the words, 
" Welcome, Englishmen." He had learned these Avords 
from some of those people who had crossed the ocean in 
search of fish. But before long this friendly feeling passed 
away. The English did not treat the Indians well. Cap- 
tain Standish was very stern and severe with them, and 
killed several of them. And the settlers went farther and 
farther into the land, and came over the ocean in such 
numbers that the red men began to fear that all their coun- 
try would be taken from them. 

The Pequot War.— Yet it was not in ^Massachusetts but 
in Connecticut that the first fighting took place. Here there 
was a fierce and warlike tribe called the Pequots, who be- 
came very angry on seeing the white men settling on their 
lands. They began to kill the whites whenever they found 
them alone. The English killed some of them in return, 
and then a deadly war began. Xo white man could leave 
the fort without danger of being murdered by the savao;es. 

The settlers soon made up their minds to put an end to 
this. So they got together a party of soldiers and sent them 
against the Pequot fort.. There were ninety white men 

5* 



54 ^4^ ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

and several hundred friendly Indians, led by Captain John 
Mason. The Indian fort was near where the town of Ston- 
ington is now built. It w^as made of trunks of trees, about 
twelve feet high, set close together in the ground. The 
Indian allies were left outside while the English forced their 
way into the fort and set fire to the wigwams of tlie 
Pequots. Then the fight began in the smoke and flame, 
and nearly all the Pequots were killed, Avhile only two white 
men were slain. 

There were some Pequots outside the fort, but these were 
followed and the most of them killed. This battle so 
frightened the Indians that there was very little trouble 
with them in Xew England for forty years afterwards. 

King Philip's War. — Tiie next war with the Indians began 
in 1(375. The tribe of the Wampanoags had always been 
friendly with the whites ; but the old sachem died and his 
son, named Philip, became sachem. He hated the wdiites, 
and o;ot some of the other tribes to ioin him in a war as^ainst 
them. One of these tribes Avas the N^arragansetts, of Rhode 
Island, who had, until now, been kept friendly by Roger 
Williams. 

Tlie war that followed was a terrible one. The Indians 
were no longer afraid to touch powder and bullets. They 
had thrown aside the bow and arrow and taken the musket 
for their weapon, and they now attacked the settlements 
in all directions. They drove olF the cattle, destroyed the 
crops, and burned the houses, while many of' the white 
people were murdered. Several towns were taken by the 
Indians and burned, and the whole country was thrown 
into a state of terror. 

Defeat of the Narrag-ansetts. — But the killing of a few 
hundred persons could not drive the white people from the 
country, for by this time there were about sixty thousand of 



THE UNITED STATES. 55 

them in Xew England. They made up their minds to pun- 
ish the Indians and put an end to the war. So a force of 
fifteen hundred men was sent against the Karragansetts, 
^^'ho had a strong fort in the centre of a great swamp. 
They thought they were safe there ; but the sohliers got into 
their fort, killed a thousand of them, and forced the others 
to flee for their lives. This was in the winter, and many 
more of the savages died from cold and hunger, as they had 
no place of shelter and very little to eat. 

Death of Philip. — This dreadful afiair broke the power 
of the Indians ; but parties of them wandered about the 
settlements, and killed men, w^onien, and children wdierever 
they could. The people grew furious at this, and hunted 
the savages like wild beasts. Philip and his followers were 
chased from place to place. In August, 1676, they went to 
Mount Hope, Rliode Island, and here they were surprised 
by a party of soldiers and Indians. Philip started up to flee 
for his life, when he w^as shot by an Indian and fell dead. 

This ended the war. All danger from the Indians was 
at an end, except in Maine and N^ew Hampshire, where tlie 
settlements were weak. The whites had suftered terribly. 
About six hundred of them had been murdered. Twelve 
or thirteen towns, with about six hundred houses, had been 
burned. But the tribes were broken up, and many of the 
Indians sent to the West Indies to be sold for slaves. 

The First French and Indian Wars.— The next troubles 
in Xew England were stirred up by the French, who began 
a war in Europe with the English in 1689, and again in 
1702.* The French and English in America were not satis- 
fied to let all the fighting be done on the other side of the 
ocean, but thought that they must do what they could to 
kill one another, though they had nothing to do with the 
war. Many of the Northern Indians took the side of the 



56 AN ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

French, and came down from Canada to attack the English 
settlements. Farm-honses and villages were burned, and 
hundreds of the people were killed or carried off as pris- 
oners. The whole country was kept in a state of terror for 
years. 

Mrs. Dustin's Escape. — We may tell the story of one of 
these prisoners. This was a brave woman named Mrs. 
Dustin, who was carried off from the town of Haverhill, in 
Massachusetts, with her baby, her nurse, and a young boy. 
The Indians soon killed the baby, but they took the others 
for many miles through the forest. Mrs. Dustin found out 
that the Indians were going to torture and kill them at the 
end of their journey, so she resolved to try to escape. They 
were now on an island in the Merrimac River, and that 
night the Indians lay down to sleep, not dreaming that they 
were in any danger from their prisoners. There were 
twelve of these Indians, and they had no fear of two women 
and a boy. But Mrs. Dustin told her companions Avhat 
she Avanted them to do, and while the savages lay asleep the 
throe prisoners took possession of their tomahawks and 
began killing them. They worked so quickly that ten of 
the Indians were killed. The other two ran for their lives 
into the forest. The brave woman took their canoe and 
floated down the river till she got safely to her home again. 
There is a statue of Mrs. Dustin now in Haverhill, and a 
monument on the Merrimac River, at the point where the 
Indians were slain. 

There were many more horrible events in these wars. 
Some large villages, such as Sclienectady in JS'ew York, 
and Deertield in Massachusetts, were taken and burned, and 
the people murdered or carried ofl* prisoners. It was a 
terribly cold Avinter, yet many of the people of Deertield 
were made to Avalk through the woods to Canada with very 



THE UNITED STATES. 57 

little clothing and scarcely anything to eat. There they 
were sold to the French as slaves. 

The pioneers of America led a life of great danger and 
terror, very different from anything that is known here to- 
day. The men worked in the fields with their rifles hy 
their sides, and each house was built like a strong fort, for 
no one knew at what moment the savages might burst with 
a yell from the woods and fall on them with musket and 
tomahawk. These were times such as can never come again 
in tliis peaceful country. 

lY.— MANNEKS AND CUSTOMS OF THE PURITANS. 

To tell what laws a people made, what wars they fought, 
and what things they did is not to tell their whole story. 
To tell how they lived, what their houses and churches were 
like, what work they did, and how they enjoyed themselves 
is quite as important and as interesting. So it is our pur- 
pose now to say something about the manners and customs 
of the people of Kew England. 

Puritan Houses. — In the early period of the country there 
were none of the great and beautiful buildings we see to- 
day. Most of the houses were log huts, only one story 
high, with very steep roofs Avhich were covered with thatch. 
But there were some few houses made of wood and brick 
and some of stone, two stories high. As time Avent on the 
houses became larger, but the largest of them would seem 
small to us. 

In these houses were large fireplaces, built of stone, in 
some of which logs four feet long could be burned. The 
chimneys were made of boards, or of sticks smeared with 
clay. There was very little glass for the windows, and 
oiled paper was used instead. When glass was used it was 



58 AN ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

made in small and thick diamond-shaped panes, which were 
set in frames of lead. Furniture was not plentiful, and was 
very rude in shape and finish, with none of the l)eauty and 
art of the furniture of our modern houses. There were few 
clocks, and most people had to tell the time from the sun. 
For this purpose the houses were built so as to face exactly 
south. In this way the people knew when the sun shone 
squarely into the rooms that it was noon and time for 
dinner. 

Dress, — The Puritans dressed quite plainly, and very 
difterently from what we do now. The men wore knee- 
breeches and short cloaks, with ruffs about their necks, and 
steeple-crowned hats ; they had rich belts, gold and silver 
buttons, and high boots rolled over at top for great occa- 
sions. The women wore dresses of plain homespun during 
the week, and silk hoods, lace neckerchiefs, and other finery 
on Sunday. 

But the law required that everybody should dress to suit 
his or her station in life. "Workingmen wore breeches of 
leather or coarse goods, and red or green baize jackets, with 
somewhat finer clothes for Sunday; while the gentleman 
wore his robe of silk or velvet, with lace ruffles at his wrists 
and gold lace on his cloak. A gold-headed cane and a gold 
or silver snuff-box were thought necessary to a gentleman. 
But whoever wore fine clothes could be punished unless he 
could prove that he was rich enough to afford them. 

Titles. — The titles of Mr. and Mrs. were not so common 
as they are to day. They Avere used only to clergymen and 
magistrates, and to people of very high position. Every- 
body else, except servants, was called Good-man, or Good- 
wife. Much respect was shown to persons of education. 
As the colonies grew richer great display was made by 
wealthy people. Fine houses were built, elegant furniture 



THE UNITED STATES. 59 

and dress were imported, and there was much show and 
pride. 

Food. — Food was by no means of as great a variety as 
we now have. There was no way to bring fruits from other 
parts of the world, or to preserve vegetables and meats for 
the winter, as is now done so largely. Corn meal and milk, 
or pork and beans, were common food, while bread was 
generally made of rye and Indian meal. Tea and coffee 
were not used, but there was much beer and cider drunk. 
Amusements were very simple. No one was allowed to 
dance, or to play cards, and there was not much music, 
while such a thing as a theatre was unknown. The Puritans 
were simple and strict in all their habits. 

Laws and Penalties. — The laws were very severe. There 
were whipping-posts, where persons might be whipped in 
public for doing many things which are now not considered 
crimes. There were also stocks or Avooden frames which 
could be locked around the neck or the feet, in wliich 
offenders Avere fastened and left to the scorn of the public. 
A woman who was a common scold might be punished by 
being ducked in a stream or pond, or by having a split stick 
fastened on her tongue or a gag in her mouth. In some 
cases the offender was made to stand on a stool in the 
church with the name of his crime written on a paper which 
was pinned on his breast. 

Town Meeting's. — The people, as we have before said, 
made their own laws. To do this they met in town meet- 
ing and talked over public affairs. If a vote had to l)e 
taken, corn and beans were used to vote with. A grain of 
corn meant a vote in favor of the measure ; a bean was a 
vote against it. The town meetings were intended only to 
discuss local affairs ; those of the Avhole colony were settled 
by the governor and assembly. 



60 



AN ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 



Church-Going". — In religious matters the Puritans were 
very strict. Everybody was expected to attend church, and 
those who Mled to do so were punished. On Sunday morn- 
ing the sound of a drum, or perhaps the blowing of a horn 
or ringing of a bell, would call the people to worship. The 
meeting-house was like a small fort, as it had a fence of 
strong stakes driven into the ground around it. Often a 




cannon or two would be placed near the church, or perhaps 
on its roof, while the men walked to church with their guns 
over their shoulders, and kept them within easy reach 
during the service. 

It was fear of the Indians that made them so cautious. 
No one knew at what moment the dreadful war-whoop 



THE UNITED STATES. Q\ 

might sound, and a troop of l)lood-tlnrsty savages rush into 
the town. If so, the meeting-house couki he turned at once 
into a fort, and the men light there for the Uves of them- 
selves and their famihes. 

"Within the Church. — The worshippers did not sit together 
as now, but the old people occupied one part of the church, 
the young men another, and the young women another. The 
lx)ys sat on the steps of the pulpit and in the gallery. No 
one was allowed to go to sleep in those old Puritan 
churches. The constable was always on hand to keep them 
awake. He carried a staff with the foot of a hare on one 
end and a hare's tail on tlie other. If a woman went to 
sleep, the hare's tail was brushed gently over her face ; but 
if a boy was caught nodding, the hare's foot came down on 
his pate with a sharp rap. Yet it must have been hard to 
keep awake, for the sermons were sometimes three or four 
hours long, and no doubt often very dry and tiresome. 

Industries. — The people of Xew England lived on what 
they could raise from the soil. But there w^ere some things 
manufactured, such as hats, paper, shoes, furniture, and 
farming tools. Most people dressed in homespun goods, 
and the spinning-wheel was kept busy in the houses. Money 
was scarce, and for a while bullets were used for farthings. 
They also used the wampum of the Indians and beaver 
skins and corn for money ; but they began to make silver 
coins in 1652. 

Many vessels were built. The first of these built in 
Massachusetts was called The Blessing of the Bay. In 
time the I^ew England people had a large trade along the 
coast, and sent vessels for whales into the icy seas of the 
north. 

Military Customs. — Every man and boy past the age of 
sixteen had to act as a soldier, and they were obliged to 

6 



Q2 AN ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

meet together and go tli rough military exercises at certain 
periods. The danger from the Indians was so great that 
this was necessary, and in the frontier settlements no farmer 
went into his field, or travelled along the road, without his 
musket. The houses were built like forts. 

Some of the soldiers carried long pikes. Others carried 
guns called matchlocks. These guns were fired with a 
slow-match, or a piece of substance that burns very slowly. 
It was long afterwards when they began to use a piece of 
flint and steel to make a spark and set fire to the powder in 
the gun, and still later before the gun-caps which are now 
used were invented. Each soldier carried a rest, or iron 
fork, which he stuck into the ground to rest the end of his 
heavy musket on while he took aim. Swords also were 
used, and some of the soldiers wore iron helmets and breast- 
plates. Others wore coats quilted with cotton wool, through 
which an Indian arrow could not pass. Such were the 
soldiers of old Puritan days. 

The usual mode of travel was on foot or horseback, but 
many went in vessels along the coast. That is the way 
Benjamin Franklin came from Boston to New York, as he 
tells us in his own story of his life. From New York to 
Philadelphia he came part of the way by land and part 
l)y boat on the Delaware River, and fi)und it a long and 
difiicult journey. Now one may make the same journey in 
two hours in a palace car. 

v.— NEW YORK. 

The Purposes of the Colonists. — The people who came to 
America did so for various purposes. The Spanish came in 
search of gold and silver. The French of Canada wished 
to trade with the Indians. The English of Virginia at first 



THE UNITED STATES. Q^ 

sought for gold, and soon after began to cultivato tobacco 
and send it to England. The Puritans were the first who 
began to till the soil as a business, and who had no other 
objects in view. They were the first, also, who made the 
New AVorld truly their home, and took care of themselves 
without any help from Europe. 

The Dutch. — Other people had come to America to trade 
with the Indians. These were from Holland. After Henry 
Hudson got back to Europe and told of the great river he 
had sailed up in the Half Moon, the Dutch claimed all the 
territory he had visited, and called it "New ^NTetherlands." 
A Dutch sailor named Adrian Block came there in 1614, 
and loaded his ship with bear skins. But when he was just 
ready to set sail for home his ship, which was called the 
Tiger, was found to be on fire. It could not be saved, 
so the sailors had to hurry ashore and leave their vessel to 
the flames. 

They built themselves log huts, and spent the winter on 
Manhattan Island, where the great city of New York now 
stands. They called the place New Amsterdam. In the 
spring they built a vessel called the Onrust, or Unrest, and 
sailed back to Holland. 

The Land Purchased. — After this the Dutch kept on 
coming, and they formed trading posts at difi:erent places 
along the Hudson River. They were the first settlers who 
acted as if they believed that the Indians had a right to the 
lands they lived on, and who were willing to pay for them. 
But they did not pay a very high price. They bought the 
^A'hole of Manhattan Island for goods worth about twenty- 
four dollars. Other tracts of land were l^ought, and they 
kept up a thriving trade with the Indians for the skins of 
bears, beavers, and other animals, which the Indians had 
shot or caught in their traps. 



64 ^^' ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

The Claim to Connecticut. — Some Dutch ships also went 
up the Connecticut River. They built a fort near its mouth, 
and said that they owned the whole coast as far north as 
Cape Cod. They were not there long before an English 
vessel came sailing down from Plymouth. The Dutch told 
them that they would fire on them from the fort if they 
tried to go up the river ; but the Plymouth men were not 
easily frightened, and they sailed past the fort in spite of its 
guns, and built a trading house at a place they called Wind- 
sor. This was in 1633. Other English settlers came to the 
Connecticut River by land from Massachusetts Bay, and 
some came over from England and settled at a place which 
they called ^N'ew Haven. The Dutch talked of driving them 
out, but the English were too strong, so the Dutch soon had 
to leave Connecticut, and it became an English colony. 

The Swedes. — Another Dutch vessel, under Captain Mey, 
sailed into Delaware Bay and River. He took a look at the 
fine country on both sides, and declared that all this land 
belonged to Holland. A fort was built on the Delaware 
River, but it was soon allowed to go to ruin, and the Dutch 
did not act as if they wanted the country. 

About twenty years afterwards a colony came from Sweden, 
led by Peter Minuit, a former Dutch governor of N^ew York, 
now in the service of Sweden, and settled on the banks of 
Delaware Bay and River, l^ow the Dutch suddenly found 
out that they wanted the country very badly. They said 
that the Swedes had settled on their lands, and sent ships 
and soldiers who attacked them and took their forts from 
them. The Swedes were not driven away, but they had to 
accept the Dutch as their masters. 

The Duke of York. — The Dutch had some troubles with 
the Indians, but no very serious ones, and they soon formed 
many settlements along the Hudson- River. Yet the people 



THE UNITED STATES. g5 

were not satisfied, for some of their governors acted like 
tyrants, and they thouglit they ought to have the right to 
govern themselves like the people of Xew England. It was 
not long before there was a change in their government. 
The English said that the country was theirs, and that the 
Dutch had no right to it. In 1664 the Duke of York sent 
three armed ships over from England, and the Dutch gov- 
ernor was ordered to give up the country to them. He 
wanted to fight, but the people would not help him. They 
did not like the way he had treated them, and thought they 
would be better oil' under the English. So the island was 
given up to the English, and the name of the town changed 
to New York. This was the beginning of the great city of 
that name. 

Leisler's Revolt. — There is not much more to tell about 
the colony of I^ew York. The people did not find the 
English rule any easier than the Dutch. The governors 
sent out by the Duke of York were very severe. The peo- 
ple at last rose against one of these governors and drove 
him away, and chose a merchant named Jacob Leisler to 
take his place. But a new governor was sent over from 
England, who arrested Leisler for treason. The governor, 
who was named Sloughter, did not want to do anything 
more to Leisler, who had not been much to blame ; but he 
had the fault of drinking, and some of Leisler's enemies 
got him to sign the death-warrant while he was drunk. 
They took care to hang Leisler before the governor got 
sober again. There was never any stronger proof than this 
of the folly and crime of intemperance. 

Other governors came afterwards who were no better than 

Sloughter. One of them was said to be a partner of the 

pirates, of whom there were many on the coast. A vessel 

was sent against them, commanded by Captain Kidd ; but 

e 6* 



QQ AN ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

he ran away with the vessel and turned pirate himself. lie 
was afterwards taken and hanged. 

The Negro Plot. — At this period there were many negro 
slaves in New York. In time one-fifth of all the inhab- 
itants were slaves. The people grew afraid of them, and 
passed severe laws to keep them in subjection. At length, 
in 1741, the story was started that the negroes had formed 
a plot to murder their masters. This caused great fear 
among the New Yorkers, and many of the negroes were 
arrested. Some of these were hung, others were burned 
at the stake, and others transported. Some white men were 
hung also. 

It is very doubtful if there was any real plot. The people 
were so frightened that they hardly knew what they w6re 
doing, and there is no doubt that many innocent persons 
were put to death. Fear makes men do many cruel and 
unjust things. 

YI.— LIFE IN NEW YORK. 

Dutch Houses. — The Dutch settlers of New York had 
modes of life very different from those of New England and 
the South. They built houses like those of Holland. These 
were of wood, or of small black and yellow bricks, and had 
their gable ends facing the street. There were weather- 
cocks on the roofs, and the houses had many doors and Avin- 
dows, with a great brass knocker on the front door. They 
were kept very clean, as houses are in Holland. The women 
spent much time in sweeping and scrubbing. They had no 
carpets, but they covered the floors with white sand, Avhich 
was made into lines and patterns with the broom. 

They had great open fireplaces, with tiles of different 
colors and figures. The furniture was plain and solid, and 
there was much old silver and china in the cupboards. Every 



THE UNITED STATES. 



67 



house had its spinning-wheels and a great chest full of linen 
which the women had woven. 

Modes of Life. — The Dutch did not work very hard. 
They took life easy, and spent much of their time sitting on 
their porches with long pipes in their mouths. They liked 
good eating and drinking, and enjoyed telling stories and 




playing at various games. Many 

things and habits we now have 

came from the Dutch. Our 

" Santa Glaus" came from them, 

and also the custom of I^ew 

Year visits, and of colored eggs dutch interior. 

at Easter. The Dutch cooks of 

New Amsterdam were the first to make doughnuts and 

crullers in this country. 

The people were not very fond of church-going, but they 
had great respect for their ministers, or " dominies," as they 
called them. When money Avas scarce they paid the domi- 
nies in beaver skins or wampum. 



gg AN ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

The Dutch Dress. — The Hollanders had their own ideas 
about dress. The men wore several pairs of knee-breeches, 
one over the other, which gave them a very baggy look. 
They wore large buckles at the knees and on the shoes, 
while their coats had great buttons of brass or silver. The 
women wore a great many short and bright-colored petti- 
coats, with stockings of various colors and high-heeled 
shoes. On their heads they wore white muslin caps. 

Industries. — There were people of several different nations 
in ^New York, but Dutch was the ordinary language, even 
long after the country had been taken by the English. 
Most of the people were engaged in trading with the Indians 
for furs, which they sent to Europe, along with timber, tar, 
tobacco, and other things. They built their own vessels, 
and gave them such queer names as King Solomon and 
The Angel Gabriel. 

The Patroons. — The country was settled in a way unlike 
that of any other colony. Rich persons came from Holland, 
where they had bought the right to take up in America a 
tract of land running sixteen miles along a stream and as 
far back into the country as they pleased. They were told 
that they must pay the Indians for the land, and bring out 
a colony of fifty persons within four years. 

These great land-owners were called '' Patroons." They 
owned all the best lands, and the farmers were only tenants. 
Thus ]^ew York was very different from ]N'ew England, 
which was divided into small fiirms owned by the farmers. 
The patroon system was not changed by the English, and 
many of these great estates continued until recent times. 
The rents were low, but about 1814 many of the tenants 
refused to pay rent any longer. After some trouble most 
of the farmers bought their lands, and the great estates of 
the patroons were broken up. 



THE UNITED STATES. 69 

VII.— MARYLAND. 

Lord Baltimore. — The Catholics of England were treated 
as badly as the Puritans, and when they saw how well the 
Puritans got along in America, the}^ thought that if they 
should cross the ocean they might be able to live like them 
in peace and comfort. So a Catholic nobleman, named 
Lord Baltimore, got King Charles I. to give him a charter 
for a colon3\ The land he chose was on Chesapeake Bay, 
where a settlement was made in 1634 at a place called St. 
Mary's. The country was named Maryland, after the wife 
of the king, Charles L, whose name was Henrietta Maria. 

The charter which the king gave to Lord Baltimore was 
a very liberal one. He was to govern the country in his own 
way, without any interference from England, and the king 
promised not to tax the colony if the governor would send 
him one-fifth of any gold or silver he might find and two 
Indian arrows every year as a sort of tribute. 

Religious Liberty. — Lord Baltimore was a wise and just 
man, and he declared that no one should suffer in his colony 
on account of religion. Most of the first settlers were 
Roman Catholics, but he said that all Christian people should 
have the same rights as the Catholics in Maryland. So for 
a time there were no religious disputes in that colony, 
though it was not long before other troubles began. 

Clayborne's Rebellion. — ^lany persons came from Vir- 
ginia and settled in Maryland, and these did not get along 
well with the Catholics. Some of them had been there 
before Lord Baltimore, and they claimed to own a part of 
the country. Disputes began, and before many years there 
was war in the colony. A man named Clayl)orne was at the 
head of the Virginians, and after some fighting he drove 
out the governor and took possession of the country. But 



70 A^ ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

the fighting began once more, and in the end he was defeated 
and liad to flee for his life. So Lord Baltimore got possession 
of his colony again. 

Religious Troubles. — But other Protestants kept coming 
into the country, who were not willing to live in peace Avith 
the Catholics, even under their fair laws. Quarrels arose, 
and when the Protestants became strong enough they passed 
a law that no Catholic should have a vote. In this way re- 
ligious freedom came to an end in Maryland. 

In 1691 the King of England took the province away from 
Lord Baltimore and placed it under a royal governor. He 
declared that the Church of England should be the church 
of the colony, and the people were no longer allowed to 
worship in their own way. For twenty years this state of 
aftairs continued. Then the king gave the colony back 
again to a descendant of Lord Baltimore, who was a Protes- 
tant. After that time no one w^as persecuted on account of 
bis religion. 

Most of the people of Maryland lived on plantations and 
raised tobacco as they did in Virginia. They paid for every- 
thing they wanted with this plant, which served them instead 
of money. Lord Baltimore had bought the land from the 
Indians, and the people had very little trouble with them. 
After the religious disputes were settled, Maryland became 
a happy and prosperous colony, and aftairs went on well 
there for many years. 

YIII.— PENNSYLVANIA. 

Religious Persecution. — We have seen that it was religious 
persecution that made many of the people of Europe come 
to America. It was tliis that brought the French Protestants 
to Florida, the Puritans to Kew England, and the Catholics 
to Maryland. The same cause sent another colony over the 



THE UNITED STATES. 71 

ocean. In those days each of the great nations of Europe 
had one religion which it said was the only trne one, and 
they declared that any person who had a different helief was 
a had man, and should be punished. 

The Quakers. — There were many of these " heretics," as 
they called them, in England. One sect of them had the 
name of Quakers. They did not believe in war, nor in fine 
clothes, nor that one man is better than another. They 
would not take off their hats before a king. They had no 
fine churches and no paid ministers, and their ideas were 
so difterent from those of the Church of England that the 
government tried to make them change their belief. 

Many of them were thrown into prison, and they were 
treated so cruelly in other ways that some of them came 
across the ocean to Massachusetts. They thought that they 
might worship God in their own way among the Puritans, l)ut 
they soon found out their mistake. We have told ah^eady 
how badly the Puritans treated them. 

William Penn. — Among the Quakers w^as one rich and 
educated man, named William Penn. His father had been 
an admiral in the English navy, and when he died Charles 
11. owed him a large sum of money. William Penn had 
been in prison for being a Quaker, and he thought that he 
would like to make a home for himself and his friends 
where they could live in peace. So he asked King Charles 
to give him some land in America for the money he ovved 
him. 

The king was glad to do this, for he had more land than 
money. He told Penn that he might have the land on the 
west of the Delaw^are River. This had belonged first to the 
Indians, then to the Swedes, and afterwards to the Dutch, 
but when the English took New Amsterdam from the Dutch 
they took this also. It was covered Avith forests, and Penn 



72 



AN ELEMESTARV HISTORY OF 




WILLIAM PENN. 



wished to call it Sylvania, from the Latin word Sylva, which 

means forest. But the king said it should he called Penn- 
sylvania, or Penn's forest-land. 

Philadelphia. — William Penn 
came to America in the year 
1682, in the ship Welcome. 
There were Swedes and Dutch 
in his new province before him, as 
we know, and also some English, 
whom he had sent out the year 
before. Several of the Swedes 
lived where the great city of Phila- 
delphia now stands; but Penn 

bought the ground from them, and laid out a city, which 

he called Philadelphia, or " brotherly love." 

He soon asked the Indians to meet him and have a friendly 

talk. Many of the chiefs 

came, and they met to- 
gether under a great elm- 
tree, on the baidvs of the 

Delaware. The white 

men had no guns, and 

they gave presents to the 

Indians and promised to 

buy the land from them, 

instead of cheating and 

shooting them as had 

been done elsewhere. So 

the Indians were glad to 

see them, and said that 

they would live " in love 

with the children of William Penn while 

shall shine." 




PENN TKEATV MONUMENT. 



the sun and moon 



THE UNITED STATES. 73 

This promise was kept for many years. The Quakers 
were a peaceful and just people, who neyer did any harm to 
the sayages, aud the Indians always looked on them as their 
friends. All the trouhles with the red men in Pennsylyania 
came from other people. 

The Laws. — William Penn stayed only two years in 
America, and then went back to England, where he re- 
mained for many years Instead of trying to goyern the peo- 
ple, he called them together and let them make their own laws, 
and the colony at once became free and hap[>y. Eyery man 
who paid a tax had a right to yote, no matter what religious 
belief he had, and the people continued to choose their own 
officers and make their o^\'n laws. Nearly the only power 
which William Penn kept was that of appointing the goyernor. 

The Population. — People came oyer yery fast to the 
Quaker settlement. Some of those who came first liyed in 
holes dug in the riyer bank ; but houses were soon built, and 
in two years Philadelphia had three hundred houses and 
twenty-fiye hundred inhabitants. Penn did not come back 
until 1699, at which time there were seyen hundred houses. 
The city was yery prosperous, but Penn did not get much 
money from his colony. The people forgot how much they 
owed to him, and let him die poor after all he had done to 
make them rich and happy. 

Delaware. — And noAy we must say something about the 
provinces of Delaware and ]N'ew Jersey. One of the early 
goyernors of Virginia, named Lord de la Ware, had made 
a yoyage along the coast, and entered a beautiful riyer, 
which was called Delaware after his name. Then the Swedes 
and the Dutch came, and afterwards the English, and the 
country whii^h is now called Delaware was for a time part 
of Pennsylyania. In 1703 it was made a separate colony, 
under its present name. 

D 7 



74 ^^ ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

New Jersey. — The Dutch were the iirst to settle in Xew 
Jersey. But when the Duke of York robbed the Dutcli of 
their settlements, he gave this province to two English 
noblemen, who named it after the island of Jersey, in the 
English Channel. 

Among the people who came there were some Quakers, 
and William Penn soon bought part of the land and invited 
others to come. Afterwards the rest of the province was 
bought by the Quakers, and it was thrown open to the per- 
secuted people of all religions. 

But in 1702 a royal governor was appointed who ruled 
over ]N'ew York and XeAv Jersey. It was not till 1738 that 
New Jersey got a governor of its own. But the lands 
settled by the Quakers long continued among the most 
peaceful, freest, and happiest of all the settlements in 
America. 

IX.— LIFE IN PENNSYLVANIA. 

The People of Pennsylvania.— Pennsylvania Avas settled 
by people of different nations, and several languages were 
spoken. Among these settlers were English and Swedes, 
Dutch and Germans, Scotch and Irish. There were no im- 
portant towns besides Philadelphia, but that was the greatest 
city in America till after the Revolution. 

Philadelphia. — William Penn laid out his city with streets 
crossino' each other at rio;ht ans^les, like those of ancient 
Babylon. It had many handsome buildings, the streets were 
lined with trees, and there were gardens and orchards about 
the houses, so that it was a " fair greene country town," as 
Penn wished it to be. The sidewalks were paved w^itli flag- 
stones, which at that time could be found in few cities. In 
1740 the city had about twelve thousand inhabitants, and 
was a very thriving place. 



THE UNITED STATES. 



75 



Modes of Life. — Pliiladelphia was noted for the abundance 
of its fruit. A German traveller said, in 1748, that the 
peaches were so plentiful that the people fed their pigs on 
them. The people in Europe, he said, cared more for their 
turnips than the people in Philadelphia did for their finest 
fruits. 

The shops of the city were only the ordinary houses, with 




OLDEST HOUSE IK GERMAXTOWN. 



something hung over the door to show what Avas for sale in- 
side. Xow you Avould see a basket, now a beehive, or per- 
haps a wooden anchor, or something else to serve as a sign. 
The people were very quiet and sober, and did not care much 
for amusements. There was not much travelling al)out the 
country, for the roads were very bad. 



76 



AN ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 



Dealing's with the Indians. — While William Penn lived 
his colony had do trouble with the Indians. It is said that 
no drop of Quaker blood was ever shed by an Indian. This 
is not quite true, yet they were long the best of friends. But 
some of William Penn's successors treated the Indians 
badly, and made them very angry. The Indians had sold 
some men as much land as a man could walk over in a day 
and a half. They supposed that this land would be walked 
over in the usual way ; but instead of that a smooth walk 
was laid out and some fast walkers trained, who went over a 
very long distance in the day and a half. The Indians said 
that this was not fair. But the white men brought Indians 
from Xew York who were enemies of the tribe of the Dela- 
w^ares, and who drove them from their lands. This was 
not the w^ay that William Penn would have acted, and the 
Indians never again felt as they had done towards the 
white men. 

Benjamin Franklin. — In 1723 there came to Philadelphia 
a very remarkable man. This was the celebrated Benjamin 
Franklin, who was born in Boston, 
but came to Philadelphia while he 
was young. His brother had printed 
a new^spaper in Boston, and Franklin 
soon started one in Philadelphia, 
which became one of the best in the 
country. He did many other things. 
He kept a stationer's shop ; he bound 
books ; he made ink ; he sold rags, 
soap, and coffee. He was not 
ashamed to do anything honest, and 
would wheel the papers he sold along the streets in a wheel- 
barrow, which many poorer and less worthy men were too 
proud to do. Ko wiser man ever lived on the earth than 




BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 



THE UNITED STATES. "J "J 

Benjamin Franklin. While lie was working he was always 
studying, and it was he who proved that lightning is the 
same thing as electricity. He brought the lightning down 
from the clouds along the string of a kite, and got an 
electric shock from it. Franklin did much for the progress 
of Philadelphia. He started a university, a hospital, a 



FRANKLIN S GRAVE. 



library, and other public institutions. He did as much for 
the good of the whole country. No man did more to help 
America to become free from England, and he was one of 
those who prepared the Constitution of the United States, that 
great document which first made a nation of this country. 
Franklin was one of the noblest men the world has ever 
known, and America will never cease to be proud of him. 

7* 



7S AN ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

X.— THE CAKOLINAS. 

The Proprietors. — AVe liave seen how iVeely King Charles 
11. gave away land in America. He gave Kew York to 
one person and Pennsylvania to another, while a large 
region, known as the Carolinas, was given hy him to eight 
persons, most of whom were nohlemen of his eonrt, and 
none of whom had ever seen America. 

Settlers had come to Carolina before this, some from A^ir- 
ginia, and others from ^ew England and elsewhere. There 
w^ere many there in 1663 when these noblemen became the 
OAvners of the land. These eight persons decided to have a 
different kind of government from that of the other colonies. 

They did not believe in freedom, and thought that the 
people were not fit to take care of themselves, as they were 
trying to do in Xew England. So they concluded to liave 
a strong government, in which the people would have noth- 
ing to do but to obey the laws that Avere made for them. 

The Grand Model Government. — The proprietors went 
to a celebrated philosopher, named John Locke, and asked 
him to draw up a plan of government for them. He did so, 
and formed a plan which was called the '' Grand Alodel." 
There were to be earls and barons in Carolina as there are 
in Europe. These Avere to own all the land, and to have all 
the power, and the people w^ere to be little better than slaves. 

This plan might have done very well for the Spanish or 
French colonies, but it would not work with the English. 
The people in Carolina had come from places where the 
settlers owned the land and made the laws. They did not 
understand the Grand Model, and paid no attention to it, 
but went on in their own Avay, took what land they wanted, 
and did not trouble themselves about the plans of the 
proprietors. 






THE UNITED STATES. 79 

The earls {uul harons stayed at home and the proprietors 
stayed with them, while the people decided for themselves 
what was Ijest to do, and did it. Settlers came from dif- 
ferent parts of Europe, among them some French Prot- 
estants, who had the same helief as those who liad come 
over a hundred years hefore under Jean Kibault. The 
colony soon Ijecame prosperous. 
\ The Pirates. — There were pirates along the coast who 
gave trouble for many years. They would conceal their 
vessels in the bays and rivers of the coast, and suddenly 
sail out and attack passing ships. It is said that some of 
the settlers helped them. They sunk many vessels and 
murdered many people before they were driven away or 
captured by armed ships. 

Industries. — The rice plant was brought into the colony 
by a vessel from Madagascar. It was planted and became 
a very valuable crop in the southern part of Carolina. In 
the northern part the people made tar and turpentine out 
of the pine-trees, and hunted for bear and beaver skins. 

Later on there were wars with the Spaniards and the 
Indians. The people of Carolina sent some w^ar vessels 
against St. Augustine, in Florida. In return the Spaniards 
stirred up the Indians to make war on the settlements. 
But in the end the Tuscarora Indians, with whom they had 
the most trouble, were driven out of the colony and forced 
to go to New York, where they joined the Iroquois, or Five 
Nations. 

Division of the Colony. — The proprietors tried to govern 
the people of the Carolinas, but the people wanted to govern 
themselves, so they drove the governor sent to them out of 
the colony, and put the secretary in prison. In the end the 
proprietors got tired of quarrelling with the people and 
asked the king to buy the province from them. 



go AN ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

He did so, and divided the province into two parts, which 
were called N^orth and South Carolina. This was in 1729. 
The people chose their own laAV-makers, but they did not 
like the governors sent them by the king any more than 
they had done their old ones. But this did not keep 
people from coming, and the country in time grew rich 
and prosperous. 

XI.— LIFE IN VIRGINIA AND CAROLINA. 

The Settlers of Virginia. — The people who settled Vir- 
ginia were of a very different class from those of the 
Northern colonies. They did not come to the New World 
either to work, or to worship God; nor had they any thought 
of growing rich by trading with the Indians. Most of them 
were English gentlemen, with more pride than money, who 
did not know how to work, and who hoped to get rich by 
finding mines of gold and silver, or in some other easy way. 
Afterwards criminals Avere sent across the ocean and sold 
for a certain number of years to the colonists. These 
worked for the planters, though it is not likely that they 
were of much use. In time the planters became the rich 
men of Virginia and these servants the poor men. 

Captain Smith, as we have already said, made everybody 
work, but he did not stay very long. At first, as he says, 
all the shelter they had was an awning made from an old 
sail, nailed to trees. Then they built some rough log houses, 
whose seats and tables were made of planks cut out with 
an axe. This was very difterent from the way people after- 
wards lived in Virginia. 

When slaves were brought over and the people began to 
raise tobacco they soon grew more comfortable. Their 
tobacco was sent to England, and goods were sent to them 
in return. For a long time tobacco was used for money. 



THE UNITED STATES. gl 

One pound of tobacco was worth from two to twelve cents 
of our money, which at that time could buy live or six 
times as much as that amount of money can now. 

Modes of Life. — The settlers soon began to build vessels 
for themselves, and carried on a good trade with England. 
They lived in a different way from the people of the Xorth. 
In travelling you would find few towns or villages, but the 
land was divided up into large plantations, where tobacco 
was the principal crop. Each house stood far from any 
others, and there were a great many negro servants. The 
slaves who worked in the fields lived in a little village of 
their own. Xearly everything that was used on the plan- 
tations was made by the slaves, who Avere taught different 
trades. There Avere mills to grind corn and wheat, and 
large sheds to cure tobacco. This tobacco was packed in 
great hogsheads, and sent to the coast to be loaded on 
vessels and shipped to England. They had a curious way 
of sending it to the coast. An axle was run through the 
hogshead of tobacco, and shafts fixed to it. Then horses 
or oxen vrould drag it over the roads, the hogshead rolling 
along like a great wheel. 

The Planters. — As time went on there came to be great 
differences in riches. There were more very rich men and 
more very poor ones than in the Xorth. The great planters 
lived like lords. They kept packs of hunting dogs and 
many racing horses, and rode to church or town in fine 
coaches drawn by six horses, and attended by riders on 
horseback. 

Their houses were built of wood, or of brick brought 
from England. These houses were often large and grand, 
with broad stairways and mantels and wainscots of solid 
mahos^any, which was richlv carved. Gold and silver ware 
could be seen in abundance on the sideboards, and the fur- 
/ 



82 ^N ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

iiiture was rich and showy. The phxnters Avere very lios- 
pitable. Strangers were received with a warm welcome, 




INTERIOR OF OLD MANSION. 



and everything was done to make their visits pleasant and 
agreeable. 

Government. — The planters spent much of their time 
attending to ])olitical matters. They carried on the govern- 
ment of the colony and became very aristocratic. There 
were among them men of high education and fine char- 
acter, and afterwards many of the leading statesmen of 
America came from Virginia. The governors of the colony 



THE UNITED STATES. 



88 



were sent from England, and at first the laws were made in 
that country. Afterwards the people were allowed to make 
their own laws. 

Punishments. — The early laws were very severe. Every 
man who stayed away from church was punished. At first 
the law said that a man who stayed away from church three 
times must be put to death. Afterwards the punishment 
for this ofi:ence was to be made a slave for a year and a day. 
There were severe laws against swearing and scolding. 




AN EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN VIRGINIA. 



Both men and women might be whipped in public, or placed 
in the stocks. Or they might be made to stand in church 
with white sheets over them, or with the name of their 
crime pinned on their breasts. Such laws as these, how- 
ever, did not last long, and were not often carried out. 
Religious Persecution. — The Church of England was the 



84 ^^ ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

established church of Virginia, and members of other 
churches were treated with much severity. The laws for- 
bade Quakers and Catholics to come into the colony. All 
those who came were punished. This made many go to 
Maryland and Carolina, where religion was free. And 
thus the severe laws of Virginia helped to Ull up these other 
colonies. 

Education. — In 1671, Governor Berkeley, of Virginia, 
wrote, " I thank God there are no free schools nor printing- 
presses here, and I hope Ave shall not have them these 
hundred years." Another governor taxed school-masters 
twenty shillings each. So education did not make much 
progress, and there was no newspaper in Virginia till 1736. 
But William and Mary College, of Virginia, was the second 
in the country. Harvard College, of ^lassachusetts, being the 
first. 

North Carolina. — The mode of life all through the South 
was much the same as in Virginia. In many places the land 
was divided into great plantations, worked by slaves, while 
the country was not so thickly settled as in the North. In 
]^orth Carolina there were different modes of life. Here 
great pine woods lay all along the coast, and the people 
made tar and turpentine from the trees. Farther back the 
country Avas more open, and forms were cultivated, while 
many persons spent their time in hunting. The settlers 
lived far apart, and the only roads they had through the 
Avoods w^ere paths, Avith notches cut on the trees to guide 
travellers. This they called " blazing their Avay." 

South Carolina. — South Carolina Avas much more like 
Virginia. Here great plantations were formed, but rice Avas 
raised instead of tobacco. AfterAvards indigo was culti- 
vated. The planters of South Carolina grcAV very rich from 
rice and indigo. Farther back, near the mountains, the 



THE UNITED STATES. 85 

people were poor, the land was divided into small farms, 
and there were many hunters. 

Education. — There were few schools except in Charleston, 
but the rich planters sent their sons to England to be edu- 
cated. The Church of England became the established 
church of the colony, but there were no severe laws as-ainst 
people of other beliefs, as in Virginia. The difference in 
the crops and in the climate had much to do with the differ- 
ence in mode of life of the Southern and Xorthern colonies. 

XII.— GEOKGIA. 

Tyranny in Europe. — It is interesting to find that nearly 
all the English colonies in America were formed as places of 
refuge for the poor and ill-treated people of Europe. In 
our happy days and our free country it is hard for us to 
understand the way men lived and acted in Europe a few 
hundred years ago. People not only could not do as they 
wished to do, but were not even allowed to think as they 
wished to think. To-day there are many different ideas 
about God and heaven and religious matters, but then the 
governments tried to make everybody tliink the same way 
about these matters. This they could not do. People never 
can be made to think the same way about anything. Then 
the governments tried to force them to do so by ill treatment, 
and thousands of men and women came to America to get 
away from those who oppressed them. 

AYe have told the story of a number of colonies that were 
formed in this way. There is one more to speak of, the 
colony of Georgia. This was formed by an Englishman 
named Oglethorpe, one of those warm-hearted men who 
spend their lives in trying to do good to their fellow-men. 

The Eng-lish Prisons. — In those days persons in England 
who failed in business, and could not pay their debts, were 



m 



AN ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 



\)\\i in prison, where they were often kept for many years. 
The prisons of old times were iihhy dens, where the prison- 
ers were crowded together and treated with great cruelty, 
and many of them died of want and disease. It was these 
poor debtors whom Oglethorpe wished to help ; but he said 
that all who were poor and unfortunate, and all who were 
ill treated on account of their religion, might have a home 
in his colony. 

The Settlement of Greorgia. — The king, George 11. , gave 
him a charter to the land that lay between Carolina and 
Florida, which he called Georgia after 
the king's name. He brought over a 
number of the poor debtors, whom the 
king set free at his desire. They made a 
settlement where the city of Savannah 
now stands. For a whole year Oglethorpe 
lived in a tent, set up under four pine- 
trees. The king had given him the land ; 
but, like William Penn and some others, 
he thought that the Indians had the best 
riglit to it, so he paid them for it. After that they were 
always friendly to him. 

People came to Georgia from all parts of Europe. These 
were the poor of Europe, who hoped to live in comfort in 
America. Among them were many Moravians from Austria, 
— people who had been persecuted on account of their re- 
ligion. Oglethorpe would not let any slaves be brought into 
Georgia. He also would not let any person bring rum into 
the colony. He looked on slavery and intemperance as two 
great evils. 

The Colony Prospers. — Houses were built, and a fort was 
erected to defend the colonists, while the land was divided 
up into farms and given to the settlers. Savannah soon 




OGLEIIIUUI'K, 



THE UNITED STATES. 87 

became a toAvn of considerable size and importance. The 
people were on good terms with the Indians, and all went 
well with them, ^o colony in America ever began with 
better prospects. But they were soon to have their share 
of trouble. 

The Claims of Spain. — The country which the King of 
England had given to Oglethorpe was part of that which 
Spain claimed under the name of Florida. It was the same 
region which ^N'arvaez and De Soto had travelled over two 
hundred years before. So if discovery gave any rights it 
belonged to Spain rather than to England. But the Spanish 
had not settled it, and the English had, and they were not 
likely to give it up to please Spain. Those who had posses- 
sion did not trouble themselves much about an old claim on 
paper. 

War with Florida. —The Spaniards grew angry on finding 
the English coming into a country which they said was 
theirs. After some years war broke out between England 
and Spain, and then^ the people of the colonies began the 
cruel work of trying to kill one another. Oglethorpe got 
together an army of one thousand Avhite men and many 
Indians, and marched into Florida to take the Spanish city 
of St. Augustine. But he did not succee<l and had to march 
back again, with his men very much the worse for their 
journey. This was in 1740. 

Two years .afterwards the Spaniards tried to take Georgia 
from the English. They sailed northward with three thou- 
sand men and a great many vessels, and landed on St. Simon's 
Island. Oglethorpe met them with a much smaller force, 
but after some fighting the Spanish were taken with a panic 
of terror and ran for their ships. They sailed away in all 
haste and the colony was saved. Many years passed before 
Georo^ia had anv more troubles from war. 



gg AN ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

After the War. — Some time after this Oglethorpe went 
back to England. The people were not satisfied with the 
laws, some of which were severe and vexatious, and they 
made so many complaints that in time the charter was given 
back to the king, and Georgia became a royal province. 
Oglethorpe never returned to America. He lived to be a 
very old man, and was one of the best men who had any- 
thing to do with the settlement of America. 

The Laws. — One of the laws of which the people com- 
plained stated that no man should own a farm beyond a 
fixed size. Another stated that no woman should have land 
left to her by will. Every man who held land was bound 
to serve as a soldier when called upon, and this was why 
women were not allowed to own it. Everybody was to have 
the rights of an Englishman, and all religions were free 
except the Roman Catholic. 

Industries of the Colony. — The people soon said that they 
could not work their lands in so warm a climate without 
slaves, so after seven years the planters were allowed to have 
them. And rum, which Oglethorpe had forbidden, soon 
made its Avay into the colony. The people cleared the 
forests and tilled the land with the help of their slaves, and 
after a while much silk was made in the colonj^ Silk-worms 
had been sent from England, with people who understood 
silk making, and this business was kept up until the time of 
the Revolution. General Oglethorpe took some of the first 
silk that was produced to England, and a silk dress was made 
of it for the queen. 

Visitors. — Among the people of Georgia was a settlement 
of the Highlanders of Scotland, and whenever Oglethorpe 
visited them he wore the Highland dress, which gave them 
great pleasure. Soon after Georgia was settled some cele- 
brated English preachers came there. These were John and 



THE UNITED STATES. 



89 



Charles Wesley, the men who started the Methodist doctrine 
in England. George Whitefield, another celebrated Meth- 
odist preacher, also came over. From the money which he 
received for his preaching he founded an " Orphan House" 
in Savannah. 

Dealing's with the Indians. — As w^e have said, Oglethorpe, 
like William Penn in Pennsylvania, Lord Baltimore in 
Maryland, and the Dutch in New York, paid the Indians 




m^ 



OGLETHORPE AND THE CHIEFS. 



for their land. In consequence these colonies had much 
less trouble with the Indians than those which took the 
land Avithout paying for it. 

The Indians of Georgia were called Creeks, because there 
were so many creeks, or small streams, in their country. 
They formed a league of several tribes, and Avere more 
civilized than the Indians of the Xorth. 

8* 



90 A^ KLEMENTARY IIISTORV OF 

Some of till' c'hic'fs i>-;ivo ()i2,-lotlior[)c a hiiti'alo skin, on tlio 
inside of which was a [)aintini;' of the lioad and feathers of 
an eai»*le. They said to him, '' The feathers of the eaii^le are 
soft, whieli sio-nities love; tlie skin is warm, and is tlie 
end)leni of prolcction ; therefore U)ve and protect our little 
families." 

And thev lived up to this saying'. All the trouhle the 
Oeoro'ia people had \vi(h the Indians was with those of 
Florida, whom the S[)anish stirred u[) against them. 

XIU.— COxNDITION OF TIIK COLONIES. 

The English Colonies. — \V^e have now told the story of 
the forming of the English colonies from New iram[)shire 
to Georgia. Maine at that time was part of Massachusetts, 
and New I[ampsliii\> was the most northerly colony. The 
whole coast land between the French province of C^mada 
and the Spanish province of Florida was occupied by Eng- 
lish settlements. 

Each of the English colonies claimed the country from 
the settlements on the coast all the way to the Paeilic Ocean. 
But the French had a claim to the back country also, and 
it took some hard iighting later on to decide who should 
own it. 

Growth of the Colonies. — The colonies grew very rapidly. 
In less than one hundred and fifty years after the iirst settle- 
ment was made there were a million and a cpiarter peo[)le 
in the country. These Avere divided nearly ecpially between 
the Xew Fngland, the Middle, and the Southern colonies. 
The South had moi'c than the others, but not more white 
peo}>le. 

Industries. — The peo[)le of the colonies were very indus- 
trious. They raised tobacco, rice, indigo, grain, and other 
crops, much of which was sent to England to pay for manu- 



TIIK UNITED STATES. 



91 



fUetured iz:oo(ls. Jviec served for money in South ('iirolina, 
us tobacco did in Viri^nnia. The colonies in time grew so 
rich that they were able to help the Kin.iz; of England, in his 
wars, with money and ships. Georgia was the poorest 
colony, and the only one to which the king ever sent any 
money to hel[> it. 

The Colonies isolated.— At first the colonies on tlie coast 
were a long distance apart. Great forests spread between 
them, and it was not easy for a man to get from one to 
another except by ships. So they had not much to do with 







TEJ , 

AN OLD RrSIDFNf E 



one another. The ^N'ew England col- 
onies were the only ones that were 
close together, and whose people could 
easily get from one to another. Thus each of them had a 
history of its own as mucli a> if it were a separate country. 
Growing together. — I>ut the country between them in 
time filled up with i)eo[>le, the woods were cut down, and 
farms were laid out all along the coast and some distance 



92 AN ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

into the interior. By 1750 the settlements had o^rown to- 
gether so that men might travel by land along the whole 
coast and find white men at short distances apart. America 
was now becoming one country, instead of a number of 
separate colonies. 

Land Travelling". — But a land journey in America then 
was not an easy task. It was not till long afterwards that 
railroads and steamboats came into use. The roads were 
bad, and manj' of the streams had no bridges, or very poor 
ones, so it was not easy or pleasant to travel on horseback 
or by carriage. There were stage-lines in some places, but 
the stages moved very slowly. Much of the travel continued 
to be by vessels along the coast. 

Difference in Customs. — The people of Xew England 
were settled more closely than those of the South. Their 
land was broken up into small farms, and more manufactured 
goods were made. In the South there was more land, and 
it was divided into large plantations, so that the people lived 
at a distance apart, and there was less social intercourse 
than in the ]N"orth. Xegro slaves were kept in the whole 
country, but there were more of them in the South than in 
the Xorth, for the great plantations in the South could not 
be worked without them, while there was much less use for 
them on the smaller farms of the Xorth. The warm climate 
of the South also was better suited to them. 

Government. — Each of the colonies had a legislature, or 
law-making body, of its own, but only Xew England elected 
its own governors. Elsewhere the governors were appointed 
by the proprietors or the king, and the people had less to do 
with public afiairs. 

Restrictive Laws. — England wanted to keep all the trade 
of the colonies for itself The people were forbidden to 
send their vessels and goods to any other country than Eng- 



THE UNITED STATES. 93 

land, or to let the sliips of any other coiintr}' come into 
their ports. And the English wanted to mannfacture their 
goods for them also, and to keep the people of America at 
farming. They forbade them to make iron, paper, hats, 
leather, and other things. 

These laws were not well carried ont. The peo[)le often 
disobeyed them. In after years En2:land tried to enforce 
them, and the people grew angry and rebellious. This was 
one of the thins-s that led to the Revolution. 



PART II -QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. 

I. Name the two companies formed to make settlements in America. When 
did they send out colonies ? Where did the Southern colony settle ? How 
did the colonists act ? How did Captain John Smith make them work ? How 
did he save his life among the Indians ? W^hat did Pocahontas do ? What 
became of Smith? Describe "the starving time.'' What })lant did the 
colonists begin to raise? When were slaves first brought to America? How 
did the colonists get wives ? Describe the Indian massacre. What caused 
Bacon's rebellion ? What followed it ? 

II. Why did the Pilgrims leave England ? Holland ? Why did they de- 
cide to go to America? What was the name of their vessel? Where did 
they land, and when? Why were they called Pilgrims? How did they 
act? Who was Captain Miles Standish ? What did Canonicus, the Indian 
chief, do ? How were the Indians frightened ? AVhat new settlement was 
made ? What were these colonists called ? What was done with the charter? 
What kind of government was established? What other colonies were 
formed? How came Koger Williams to found Rhode Island? How were 
religious opinions treated there ? How did the Quakers act in Massachusetts? 
How did the Puritans treat them ? What is meant by witchcraft ? Describe 
the Salem witchcraft. How many were hanged as witches ? What advance 
was made in government? What did Charles II. do about the charters? 
What did James II. do ? Tell what was done about the Connecticut charter. 
How did the people get rid of royal governors ? 

III. How did the English treat the Indians? What did the Pequots do? 
Describe the attack on the Pequot fort. Wliat eflect had this on the Indians ? 
Who was King Philip? What did the Indians do under his influence ? 
Describe the attack on the Narragansetts. When and how was Philip killed ? 



94 AN ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

AV'hiit were the results of the war? W4iy did the French stir up the Indians 
to attack the English? What was the result? Who was Mrs. Dustin ? 
How did she escape from the Indians ? What was done at Schenectady and 
Deerfield ? How did the people protect themselves from the Indians? 

IV. What were the houses of the Puritans like? How were they arranged 
and furnished? Hoav was the sun made to tell the time of day ? How did 
the Puritans dress? W^hat titles were used ? AVhat did they have for food ? 
What were their ideas about amusements ? Wliat punishments did they 
inflict? How were votes taken at the town meetings? What were their 
rules about church-going? How were the churches protected? Why was 
this done? How did the people sit within the church? How did the con- 
stable keep them awake ? What industries had the Puritans ? What did 
they use for money? What were their vessels used for? Who had to act as 
soldiers ? How were the soldiers armed ? What was the mode of travel ? 
How did Benjamin Franklin come to Philadelphia? 

V. For what purposes did ]:)eople come to America ? What region did the 
Dutch claim? How came Adrian Block to spend the winter on Manhattan 
Island? W'here did the Dutch settle? How did they act towards the In- 
dians? What did they trade for? How were they driven out of Connecti- 
cut? Who sailed up Delaware Bay? From what other countr}' of Europe 
did a colony come to Delaware Bay ? How did the Dutch act towards the 
Swedes? What did the Duke of York do? What name did the English give 
to the Dutch town of New Amsterdam? How was the English rule liked? 
Describe Leisler's revolt. AVhat proportion of the people of New York 
were slaves? What story was stalled alxtut th(Mn ? How were the slaves 
treated ? 

VI. What kind of houses did the Dutch build? In what condition were 
they kept ? How were they furnished ? Did the Dutch work hard ? What 
were some of their customs? How did they treat their ministers? How 
were the men and women dressed? How did they employ themselves? 
WMiat did they send to Europe ? How was the (•ountry settled ? What were 
the great land-owners called ? Did the farmers own their land? How were 
the estates of the patroons broken up? 

VII. How were the Catholics treated in England ? AVhat did Lord Balti- 
more do? What did he name the land granted him ? What was he to give 
the king ? What did he declare about religion ? AVhat brought on disputes ? 
Describe Clayborne's rebellion. What did the Protestants do? AVhat hap- 
pened after the king took control of the colony? AVas it given l)ack to Lord 
Baltimore again ? How did the people of Maryland live? What did they 
use as money ? 

VIII. AVhat beliefs and customs did the Quakers have? How were they 



THE UNITED STATES. 95 

treated in England? AVho was William Penn ? How came he to ask the 
king for land in America? What land did the king give him? AVhatname 
was given it? What does this name mean ? When did William Penn come 
to America ? What people did he find in his province? What city did he 
layout? Describe Penn's treaty with the Indians. How did the Quakers 
and the Indians get on together? What power did Penn give the people? 
How fast did the city of Philadelphia grow? How was Penn treated b}' the 
colonists? After whom was the Delaware Kiver named? When was the 
colony of Delaware separated from Pennsylvania ? Who first settled New 
Jersey? Who bought the land? When did New Jersey get a governor of 
its own ? 

IX. From what nations came the settlers of Pennsylvania? How was 
Philadelphia laid out? How were the streets paved ? How many inhab- 
itants were there in 1740? W^hat is said about fruit? How were the shops 
arranged? What was the character of the people? How were the Indians 
treated ? What trick was played to rob them of their land ? What cele- 
brated man came to Philadelphia in 1723 ? How did he do business? How 
did he prove that lightning and electricity are the same? What did he do 
for Philadelphia ? What service did he perform for the whole country ? 

X. To whom did Charles II. give the province of Carolina? W^hat ideas 
did the proprietors have about the people? W^hom did they ask to draw up 
a plan of government ? What was this plan called ? How were the people 
to be governed? How did the people act? What class of law-breakers was 
there along the coast ? How did they act ? Where was the rice plant brought 
from ? In what part of Carolina was it raised ? What did the people do in 
the northern part? Describe the wars with the Spaniards and Indians. 
What became of the Tuscarora Indians? What troubles took place betAveen 
the people and the governor? What did the proprietors ask the king to do? 
How did the king divide the Carolinas? 

XI. What class of people came to Virginia ? What other kind were sent 
there? How did they become divided? How did the people live at first ? 
What was used as money ? What was it worth? How did the people live 
afterwards ? What work did the slaves do on the plantations ? How were 
the tobacco hogsheads sent to the coast ? How did the great planters live in 
later years? What were their houses like? How were strangers treated? 
What was the government like? What jHuiishments were inflicted by the 
early laws? What was the established religion of Virginia ? How did the 
government act towards other religions? For what did a governor of Vir- 
ginia thank God? Did education make much progress? Which were the 
first two colleges in America? How was the land divided in the South? 
What did the people of North Carolina produce? How did they make their 



96 AN ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

way through the woods? What was South Carolina like? What crops 
were raised ? How was education provided for ? 

XII. How were the people of Europe treated a few centuries ag-o? How 
were debtors treated ? For what purpose was the colony of Georgia founded ? 
Who was its founder? How did Oglethorpe live at Savannah ? How did he 
treat the Indians ? What classes of people came to Georgia ? What did Ogle- 
thorpe do about slaves and rum? How did the colony prosper? What 
claim was made by Spain ? What did Oglethorpe do? What success did 
he have ? What did the Spaniards do afterwards ? What was the fate of 
their expedition? What kind of man was Oglethorpe? What were the 
laws that the people complained of? When were the planters allowed to 
have slaves? Was rum kept out of the colony? What important industry 
was started ? What was done with some of the first silk ? What celebrated 
English preachers came to Georgia ? What church did these belong to ? 
Were the Indians paid for their land? Why were they called Creeks? 
What did the chiefs give Oglethorpe? Was there any trouble with the 
Indians? 

XIII. How far back from the coast did the English colonies claim the 
country ? What other people claimed the back country ? How rapidly did 
the colonies grow? How was the population divided? What crops were 
raised ? How rich did the colonies grow ? Was it easy to get from one colony 
to another? Why not? Which colonies were close together? What had 
happened by 1750? Why were land journeys difficult? Why was there 
more social intercourse in New England than in the South ? Where were 
negro slaves kept? Why were they most useful in the South ? How were 
the governors appointed ? What did England do about trade ? What were 
the people forbidden to make ? What was the result of these laws ? 



THE UNITED STATES. 97 



PART III. 

THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 

I.— THE FRENCH IN AMERICA. 

The English Colonies. — AVe have told the story of how 
the English came to America and settled along the coast of 
what is now the United States. The colonies they formed 
were not very large. They did not go far back from the 
coast, but their people laid claim to the land across the 
whole country to the Pacific Ocean. 

These claims were made only on paper. Most of the 
country to the west was still in the hands of the Indians ; 
but part of it was held by other white men, people of another 
nation, who had settled on it, and were not likely to give it 
up without a fight. 

The French Settlements. — These people were the French. 
They had forts and settlements along the line of the great 
lakes and down the Mississippi River as fiir as the Gulf of 
Mexico, and they intended to take possession of the country 
between the lakes and the Ohio River. If this had gone on 
the English would in time have been confined to their settle- 
ments along the coast, and the western country would have 
belonged to the French. But before we tell the story of 
what followed we must go back to the early French settlers, 
and relate what they were doing while the English were 
forming their colonies. 

Enterprise of the French. — The French had been more 

^9 9 



98 ^^' ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

active in exploring the country than the EngUsh. We have 
already told of how Champlain made his way far into the 
country of the Iroquois. He also sailed over some of the 
great lakes. Later on there were two things that took the 
French throuo;h the countrv. These were trade and relio-ion. 
The French hegan early to trade with the Indians, and thej^ 
travelled Ions: distances in search of furs, and built tradino;- 
houses and forts far away from Quebec. Among them were 
many priests who belonged to the religious society known 
as the Jesuits. These priests wished to make Christians of 
the Indians, and made long journeys for that purpose, though 
they knew that they might be put to death by the savages. 

Marquette's Discovery. — One of these priests was named 
Marquette. He had spent years among the Indians, and 
knew their languages, and had often heard them speak of a 
mighty western river that ran far to the south. He wanted 
to see this river, and so in the year 1678 he crossed Lake 
Michigan and made his way partly, by land and partly in 
Indian canoes along little lakes and streams, until he reached 
the AVisconsin River. 

He had with him a friend named Joliet and several others. 
For seven days they floated in canoes down the Wisconsin, 
until, to their joy, they found themselves on the great river 
of the West, the mighty Mississippi. De Soto had discovered 
this river one hundred and thirty years before, and had 
followed it as far north as the State of Missouri. Marquette 
floated down it until he reached the mouth of the Arkansas 
River. Then he and his friends turned and paddled their 
canoes up the stream again until they reached the point they 
had started from. 

This was a wonderful journey for that early period. To 
see a few bold and daring men, hundreds of miles away from 
their countrymen, alone among tribes of flerce Indians, toil- 



THE UNITED STATES. 99 

mf>: throiiii:h the forests of the AVest, and r)a(ldlino: in frail 
canoes along unknown and mighty lakes and streams, was 
to behold what has not often been seen in the history of the 
world. These men had no weapons in their hands. They 
had only the Bible. But Christian love and charity made 
them safer amons; the savas-es than if thev had carried 
swords and muskets and been clothed from head to foot in 
armor of steel. 

La Salle's Journey. — The next person to reach the Mis- 
sissippi was a French gentleman, the Chevalier de La Salle. 
He knew what the English and the Spanish were doing, that 
they w^ere taking possession of the Xew World, and he made 
up his mind that the French should own the great western 
country. So he got together a body of men, and began to 
explore the land beyond Lake Michigan, and to build forts 
and leave soldiers in them. He had many battles with the 
Indians, but he was not to be turned from his purpose. 

At last he started on the great journey which he had long 
had in mind. AVith a party of French and Lidians he 
crossed the country, paddling along the streams and car- 
rying the canoes through the forests, until he reached the 
Mississippi. 

It was then the year 1682, something more than two 
hundred years ago. Down the great stream they went, 
among tribes avIio had never before seen a white man. 
Everywhere La Salle took possession of the country for the 
King of France. In time they reached the mouth of the 
Mississippi, and there La Salle laid claim to all the vast 
country drained by that mighty stream and by all the streams 
tliat ran into it. This country he named Louisiana, and 
declared that it belonged to France, and to the king, 
Louis XIV. 

La Salle's Later Life. — Then thev went ui) the river airain 



100 ^^ ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

Liiitil they reached their starting-point. La Salle now re- 
turned to France, where every one looked on him as a hero. 
The king gave him ships and men to plant a colony at the 
mouth of the Mississippi, and the adventurers sailed joy- 
fully away. 

But their journey ended very sadly. They could not tind 
the Mississippi, and landed at a place in Texas. Here La 
Salle built a fort, and then started with part of the men to find 
the Mississippi. The journey was a terrible one. The river 
was found, and La Salle tried to make his way to Canada 
for help, but on the way he was killed by some of his men. 
And so ended the life of one of the greatest of American 
explorers. 

The End of the Colony. — Some of the men got to Canada 
and told their story, and a party was sent to Texas to save 
those in the fort. But when they got there the men were 
dead and the fort was a ruin. The Spaniards had found 
them and put them all to death. This was the sad end of 
La Salle's great enterprise. 

Succeeding Events. — But the French were not discour- 
aged. Another colony was sent out in 1699 to make a set- 
tlement near the mouth of the Mississippi, and before many 
years New Orleans and other towns were laid out. These 
towns were very far away from the French settlements on the 
St. Lawrence River. Thousands of miles of land and water 
lay between them. Yet nearly the whole distance might be 
travelled by water along the great lakes of the ISTorth, the 
Mississippi River, and the streams which ran into it. The 
active French traders were not afraid to make long journeys, 
and many of them travelled the whole way from Quebec to 
New Orleans. 

Before many years there were military posts at many 
points along this great water-way. Traders settled around 



THE UNITED STATES. 101 

the forts and priests built churches near by, so that in time 
there was a little settlement at each fort. 

The Valley of the Ohio. — All this went on for fifty years. 
Cities now stand where many of the French forts Avere built. 
But at that time there were not many French in America. 
In 1750 there were fifteen times as many English as French 
in the ^ew World. In the country east of the Mississippi 
and south of the great lakes there were only about seven 
thousand five hundred Frenchmen. 

The English were now making their way to the West. A 
company was formed, called the Ohio Company, to buy up 
land and o:et settlers to move westward. The lands of this 
company lay in Western Pennsylvania. 

When the French saw what the English were doing they 
were alarmed. They Avere afraid they would lose the 
country if they did not make haste. So they built a strong 
fort on Lake Erie, where the city of Erie now stands. It 
became clear that before long they would have forts on the 
Ohio River. 

Danger in the Air. — It was plain enough now that there 
would be trouble. The great rivals had advanced till they 
were near together. Both of them claimed to own the 
Valley of the Ohio. They were beginning a race to see who 
should first get possession of it, and that race could not go 
on very long before the dreadful work of war would begin. 
Whether the French or the English should own the great 
basin of the Ohio and the Mississippi was soon to be settled 
by the SAVord and the cannon, and by the death of thou- 
sands of men. 

II.— GEORGE WASHINGTON. 

Early Wars. — There had been fighting in America be- 
tween the English and French two or three times before. 

9* 



102 ^^ ELEMENTARY HISTORT OF 

Every time a war broke out in Europe between these nations 
the settlers in America beiji;an to kill one another. In these 
wars most of the lighting was done by the Indians. AVe 
have already told how they attacked the settlements in ^N'ew 
England and I^ew York, and murdered the people. 

The Action of Virginia. — But now a war was to have its 
beginning in America. The French and English stood face 
to face, like two dogs ready to fly at each other's throats. It 
was not long l^efore the struggle began. Virginia claimed 
the country to which the French were sending their pioneers, 
and the Governor of Virginia made up his mind to ask them 
what they were doing, and to' tell them that the land they 
were on belonged to his colony. 

George Washington. — He soon picked out a messenger 
for this duty. This was a young man named George Wash- 
ington, who was then only a little over twenty years old. He 
had been born in 1732, and it was now 1753. But he vras 
known to be active and prudent. He had been a land sur- 
veyor, and was used to hardship. So Washington was 
chosen to go to the West and ask the French why they had 
built the fort at Presque Isle, and what they intended to do, 
and to warn them that they were on English land. 

George Washington was born to be a great man, and he 
showed this while he w^as still a boy. Among his school- 
mates he was the same as he was among his countrymen 
afterwards. He settled all their disputes, and he would not 
let anything take place that was not just and fair. AVhat- 
ever he had to do he did well. The books of exercises which 
he wrote at school are remarkable for their neatness and 
carefulness. When he was older he became a land surveyor, 
and his surveys are among the most accurate ever made. 
Later in life he managed his own lands, packed and shipped 
his own tobacco and flour, and ke})t his own books. His 



THE UNITED STATES. 103 

books may still be seen. They were wonderfully well kept. 
As a boy and a man Washington was strictly honest and 
truthful. AVhen his flour came into foreign ports the gov- 
ernment agents did not inspect it. His name on the barrel 
was enough. It Avas well known that there was no lie in the 
Washington stamp. It would be well for the country if all 
public men would stamp their characters with the Washing- 
ton stamp. This young man Avas destined to do a great 
work for America. We have now the flrst part of his public 
life to describe, but his name will come again into our Avork 
farther on. 

■Washing-ton's Journey. — The journey from Virginia to 
Lake Erie AA^as a difficult one, for the country Avas Avild and 
Avithout roads, and it Avas the cold Avinter season. Washing- 
ton Avent up the Potomac River till he reached the streams 
that floAv into the Ohio. He folloAved these till he met the 
French commander. The Frenchman treated him very 
politely, but aa^ouUI not promise to leaA^e the country. This 
AA^as the word that AVashino-ton brouo:ht back to Yiroinia. 

The journey back Avas terrible ; much of it lay through 
the Avild Avintry forest. The rivers Avere fall of broken ice, 
and had to be crossed on rafts. In crossing the Alleghany 
River, Washington Avas thrown into the Avater, and had to 
spend the night on an island, Avet through and nearly frozen. 
At last he got back home Avith the ansAver of the French 
commander. 

Fort Du Quesne. — Both sides saAv that no time Avas to be 
lost. The French sent pioneers toAvards the Ohio. The 
Ohio Company decided to Iniild a fort at a point Avhich 
Washington had picked out. This Avas AAdiere the tAVO 
rivers that form the Ohio come together, and Avhere the city 
of Pittsburg noAV stands. As the French Avere so busy 
building forts, the English thought they ought to build some 



104 



AN ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 



too, SO they sent a party for this purpose. But when the 
French saw what was being done they drove the Englisli 
workmen away and finished the fort themselves. Tliey 
gave it the name of Fort Du Quesne. That was the first 
step that led to the severe war that followed. 

Fort Necessity. — At this time Washington was marching 
towards the place with about four hundred men who had 




WASHINGTON CROSSING THK ALLEGHANY RIVER, 



been enlisted in Virginia. A party of French soldiers came 
forward to meet him, and there was a fight in which Wash- 
ington was victorious. But he was in a dangerous position, 
so he built a small fort which he called Fort Necessity. The 
fort was soon surrounded by a large body of French and 
Indians, and the Virginians had to surrender. This took 
place on July 4, 1754. The English force went back to 



THE UNITED STATES. 105 

Virginia, where the people were much pleased with the skill 
and prudence of Washington, and the governor gave him 
the chief command of the Virginia soldiers. 

Eng-land and France. — During this time the English and 
French were fighting in other places. The lirst part of the 
war was fought by the people of America only. But soon 
England and France were at war in Europe and ^began to 
send soldiers across the ocean to help the colonists. An 
army was sent to the disputed territory, under an officer 
named General Braddock. 

General Braddock. — This general knew very well how to 
carry on w^ar in Europe, but he knew nothing at all about 
fighting with the Indians, and he w^as too proud to let any 
one tell him. So he and his army, with some Virginians 
under Washington, set out to drive the French from Fort 
Du Quesne. 

They marched slowly through the woods, making roads 
as they went, and wasting a great deal of time. By the 
time they got near the French fort several months had 
passed. Yet there were not many French there, and the 
Indians were not in a very good humor for fighting ; so if 
Braddock had acted with common prudence he might soon 
have had the fort. But he knew too much to listen to any- 
body, and he soon got his army into trouble. 

Braddock's Defeat. — Washington wanted to go ahead 
with his Virginians and drive the Indians from the woods ; 
but Braddock Avould not let him, and he marched on, with 
banners flying and drums beating, until his army was in a 
deep ravine w^itli steep banks and thick woods on each side. 
These woods w^ere full of French and Indians in ambush. 

Suddenly the hidden enemy began to fire. The soldiers 
were taken completely by surprise, and fell dead and 
wounded on every side. The Virginians under Washing- 



106 ^^ ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

ton knew what they were about, and got behind trees to 
light; but Braddock would not let his soldiers do the same 
thing, but kept them in their ranks and made them stand 
still to be killed. The,y fired blindly into the woods, but 
did no harm to their foes, Avhile hundreds of them were 
slain. When they could stand this no longer they turned 
and fled for their lives. Washington with his Aarginians 
kept back the enemy, or many more of the British soldiers 
would have been slaughtered. It was the most terrible 
defeat in the early history of America. 

The Result of the Battle.— The battle had lasted three 
hours, and seven hundred out of twelve hundred were killed. 
Braddock was mortally wounded, and all his oflicers were 
killed or wounded. Washington was the only oflicer that 
was not hurt, and he had two horses shot under him and 
four bullets through his coat. Long afterwards an old 
Indian chief said that he had fired many times at Washing- 
ton during the battle, but that the young American brave 
bore a charmed life and could not be touched by his 
bullets. 

The Indian Raids. — This defeat was a serious one for the 
colonies. The Ohio region Avas left to the French, while 
the Indians, who thought the English cowards, began to 
attack the settlements and murder all they could. All 
through the western part of Virginia the people had to flee 
for safety ; their houses Avere burned, and the rifle and the 
tomahawk brought death to many of them. Washington 
was kept busy in fighting with the savage foes, and did this 
with great skill and courage, but he had a diflicult task. 

The Port captured. — Three years afterwards Washington 
was sent again to take Fort Du Quesne. By this time the 
French had got th(^ worst of the war, and when the French 
commander saw the English coming near he did not wait 



THE VyiTED STATES. 107 

for them. He marched his men out of the fort and left it 
to Washington to take possession. 

The contest for the Valley of the Ohio ended in victory 
for the English. The French gave it up to their opponents, 
and never laid claim to it again. It was during this time 
that Washington learned the art of war, of which he Avas 
to make such excellent use in the coming war of the 
Ee volution. 

III.— THE AVAR IN THE XOETH. 

The Capture of Louisburg. — The war which had begun 
on the Ohio soon spread to other parts of the country. 
There was much hard fighting in the Xorth between ^^Tew 
York and Xew Ens^land and the French settlements in 
Canada. The British fleet also took part in the war. The 
French had a very strong fortress at the town of Louisburg, 
on the island of Cape Breton. They thought that no force 
could capture it, but they were mistaken in this. It was 
captured in 1745 by a body of [NTew England soldiers. At 
the end of the war it was given back to the French, but in 
1758 it was ao^ain attacked bv a strono; Eno^lish fleet and 
forced to surrender. The English never gave it up again. 

Acadia. — The country which we now know as Xova 
Scotia and Xew Brunswick was called Acadia by the 
French. It was settled by people of French descent, many 
of whom had fine farms, and others lived by hunting and 
trapping. The peninsula of Xova Scotia had been taken 
from the French by the English in 1710, and was still held 
by them ; but it had very few English settlers, and its peo- 
ple did not like to be under English rule. 

The northern part of Acadia was still held by the French, 
and when the war began they built several forts on the Bay 
of Fundy, and got ready to try and drive the English from 



108 ^^' ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

the country. But the English attacked these forts and took 
them all. While the fighting was going on many of the 
Acadians helped the French. The English did not like this. 
They said that they would not have spies and enemies in 
their own land, and that the people nmst take the oath of 
allegiance to England, and be ready to tight in the English 
armies if they should be needed. 

This the Acadians would not do. All their feelings were 
with the French, and they would not help the English. 
Then the English said that they should be all sent out of 
the country, since they would not submit to the government. 

The Acadians expelled. — Many of the Acadians were 
quiet and good citizens, but all who could be found were 
marched to the sea-shore and put on board ships and sent 
away to the different English colonies. Some of them 
fought with the English and drove them away, but several 
thousand were taken from their homes and sent to live 
among strangers. Their houses were burned and their 
farms ruined to keep them from coming back. 

This was a very cruel act. The English had reason to be 
angry with those Acadians who acted as spies and enemies ; 
but most of the people were quiet and industrious, and all 
their crime was that they would not take an oath to bear 
arms against their countrymen. In time many of those 
who had been sent away returned and took the oath of 
allegiance to England ; but others suffered many hardships, 
and died in foreign lands. 

Prom Canada to New York. — We have spoken in a 
former chapter of the great water-way by which the French 
could get from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. There is 
another water-way, that which leads from the St. Lawrence 
Eiver to Lake Champlain and Lake George, and by way 
of the Hudson River to New York Bay. It was this route 



THE UNITED STATES. 109 

that Champlain had taken when he first set out to fight 
the Indians, and it was along these bodies of water that the 
remainder of the fighting took pkice. 

The French Defences. — The French had buiU forts along 
the Niagara River and Lake Ontario, and also at Crown 
Point, at the southern end of Lake Champlain, and at Ti- 
conderoga, at the northern end of Lake George. From 
these points they could easily send soldiers into New York 
and New England, so the English decided to try to take the 
forts. 

The Battle of Lake Georg-e. — The English army in New 
York was led by General Johnson. There were many In- 
dians with it, for the Iroquois tribes had hated the French 
ever since they had fought with Champlain. While John- 
son was marching north the French were marching south, 
and the two armies met at the southern end of Lake George. 
Here a battle took place in wdiich the French were badly 
defeated. Hundreds of them were killed and the rest 
driven back. Johnson did not go on to capture the French 
forts, but stayed where he was, and built a fort which he 
called William Henry. 

The French Successes. — During the next two or three 
years the French were everywhere successful. They cap- 
tured Fort William Henry in 1757, and a terrible event 
took place there. The English were promised their lives if 
they would give up the fort, but as soon as they marched 
out the Indians fell upon them with tomahawk and scalping- 
knife and murdered many of them in cold blood. The 
French did nothing to save them. This was one of the most 
shameful massacres in American history. 

Attack on Ticonderog'a. — The next year General Abcr- 
crombie attacked Fort Ticonderoga with a strong army. 
But the French defended themselves bravely, and the Eng- 

10 



IIQ AN ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

]ish were forced to retreat in haste, after they had lost two 
thousand men. 

The Turning of the Tide. — The war had now histed for 
four years, and the French had been successful at nearly 
every point. They had held their forts on Lake Chaniplain 
and Lake George, and on the Ohio, and had defeated the 
English in nearly every battle. The English were much the 
stronger in numbers, and all they needed was good leaders. 
With these they would be sure to gain the victory. 

Li the year 1758 the tide turned. The English took sev- 
eral of the French forts, and in 1759 took several others. 
Ticonderoga and Crown Point were taken, and also the 
forts on Lake Ontario and the Xiagara River. The French 
were driven out of what the English claimed as their terri- 
tory, and were confined to Canada. The English next made 
up their minds to try to drive the French from Canada. 

The Sieg-e of Quebec. — Canada had two important cities, 
Montreal and Quebec. Quebec was not easy to capture. 
It was built on the top of a high and steep hill, and was 
surrounded with strong walls, behind which were more 
than eight thousand men, commanded by the Marquis de 
Montcalm. 

General Wolfe led an army of eight thousand men against 
this city, and for two or three months tried to take it, but 
he could not even get to the top of the hill on which it was 
built. At length he learned that there was a narrow path 
up the face of the bluff. One dark night he took his men 
in boats down the St. Lawrence River, and by the break of 
day they had climbed up this steep path and dragged their 
cannon to the top of the hill. 

The Capture of the City. — Montcalm was astonished 
when he saw the English army before the walls of the city. 
If he had stayed behind these walls it is not likely they 



THE UNITED STATES. 



Ill 




1X2 ^^ ELEMESTARV HISTORY OF 

could have taken it. But he hastily led his men out, think- 
ing he could drive the English over the [)recipice before 
they all got up the hill. He was sadly mistaken. In the 
battle that followed the English gained a complete victory 
and Quebec fell into their hands. 

General Wolfe received a mortal wound, and as he lay 
dying he heard loud cries of " They fly ! they fly !" " Who 
fly?" he asked. " The French," w^as the answer. " God be 
praised!" he replied. "Idle happy." Montcalm also fell, 
and when told that he must die, he said, " So much the 
better; I shall not live to see the surrender of Quebec." 

End of the War. — Montreal was taken the next year, and 
soon the war came to an end. A treaty was made between 
England, France, and Spain in 1763, by which France gave 
up to England all the country east of the Mississippi River, 
and to Spain all the country west of it. This was a great 
event for the English colonies. North America now 
belonged to two nations only, England and Spain. 

Pontiac's Rebellion. — The French in Canada made some 
further trouble. There was a bold and brave Indian chief 
named Pontiac, who tried to drive the English back from 
the Ohio and the lakes, and perhaps from the whole country. 
The French secretly incited him to this. He made a league 
between several tribes, and a sudden attack was made on 
the English forts. 

They took one fort by the trick of playing a game of 
ball before it. When the ball fell near the gate of the 
fort they rushed after it and into the open gate. Then 
they drew their tomahawks from under their blankets 
and killed nearly all of the soldiers. The fort at Detroit 
was besieged for five months, and then the Indians gave up 
the siege. Several other forts were taken, but in the end 
the Indians were everywhere defeated. 



THE UXITKD STATES. 113 

Tlii.s was the end of the Freii<;li aud Iinliaii war, which 
liad continued, at intervals, for seventy-live years. The 
English were everywhere victorious, and were no\v to have 
a few years of rest from war. 



PART III.-QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. 

I. How far back from the coa.st did the English colonies extend ? How far 
did their claims extend ? Who held the back country ? AVhere had the French 
forts and settlements ? What were their intention-s ? What two things induced 
the French to explore the country ? For what purpose did the traders 
travel? For what purpose the Jesuits? What did Marquette wish to do? 
Describe his journey. Did the priests need weapons to protect them from the 
Indians ? Who, after Marquette, sought to explore the 31isslssippi ? What 
else did he wish to do ? In what 3'ear did he reach the Mississippi ? Describe 
his journey. How was La Salle received in France ? Where did his colony 
land ? What became of him ? What was the fate of the colony ? Where 
did the French make a settlement in 1099 ? What city was laid out? How 
could the French get from Quebec to New Orleans ? How were settlements 
formed along the route ? How man}* more English than French were in 
America in 1750 ? What was the object of the Ohio Company ? AVhere 
did the French build a fort ? For what purpose ? What did both the rival 
peoples claim ? How was the dispute to be settled ? 

II. What did the Governor of Virginia decide to do? Whom did he .select 
as messenger? How old was Washington then? Why was he chosen? 
What was he to say to the French ? What can we say alxmt the school-life 
of Washington? What did he do in older life ? How were his books kept? 
How was his flour received in foreign lands ? Describe Wa-shingtons journey. 
How did the French commander act? Describe Washington's return. What 
did the Ohio Company decide to do ? What did the French do ? How and 
with whom did the first fight take place ? Why did Washington build Fort 
Necessity ? What followed ? What general did England .send to America ? 
What did he know about war? Describe his march. What did Washington 
want to do? How did Braddock lead hLs arrny on ? Describe the battle and 
defeat. Was Washinirton hurt? What did an old Indian chief say about 
him ? What followed this defeat ? When was Fort Du Quesne t^keh ? By 
whom ? What did this war teach Washington ? 

III. When was Loulsburg captured the first time? When the .second 
time ? What was the country of Nova Scotia and New Bninswick called by 

A ' 10* 



114 AN ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

the French? What part of it was taken by the Eng-lisli in 1710? AVhat 
part was still held by the French? What success did the English gain? 
What did they ask the Acadians to do? Why did the Acadians refuse? 
What then did the English resolve to do ? Tell how the Acadians were ex- 
pelled. What is said about this act ? Why was it cruel ? AVhat water-way 
leads from Canada to New York ? Where did the French build forts ? What 
was the result of the battle of Lake George ? What fort did General Johnson 
build ? When was this fort captured by the French ? AVhat terrible event 
took place? Describe Abercrombie"s attack on Ticonderoga. How long were 
the French successful ? AVhen did the tide of success turn ? What successes 
had the English? AVhich were the two important cities of Canada? How 
was Quebec defended ? AVho led an army against it ? How did he get his 
men to the summit of the bluff? What did Montcalm do? Who gained 
the victory ? What happened to General Wolfe ? AVhat were his last words ? 
AVhat were Montcalm's last words? AVhat did England gain by the treaty 
of peace ? AVhat did Pontiac hope to do ? Describe his attacks on the forts. 
AVere there anv more French and Indian wars? 



77//; f.MTlJJ STATES. WTy 



PART IV. 

THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 

J.— 'iilK TVKANNV OF KNGLANb. 

The Story of the P^volution. — The Htory we Piave now 
to tell i.s one that every American .should hear with pride. 
It is the Btory of how the people of Aineriea were ill treated 
hy England, and how they declared they would not submit 
to he made .slaveB of, and fought bravely until they gained 
their liberty. They .suffered dreadfully, and thou.sand.s of 
them lost their lives, but they would not yield, and struggled 
on and on until England was forced to give up the war and 
sign a treaty of peace with free America. This is what is 
known as the American Kevolution. 

The Navigation Acts. — What wa8 this bad treatment of 
the Arnericaijs? That is what we have next to tell. They 
were ill used in a good many ways. Governors >iad been 
r-ent to them from England, and some of these acted as if 
they were kings and the people .slaves. But what made the 
Americans most angry was that they were not allowed to 
trade where they pleased or rnake the articles they needed 
for their own use. They had built many ships, and for a 
while they sent out their goods to foreign countries and got 
other goods in return. 

But the merchants of England did not like this. They 
wanted this trade for themselves. So they had laws passed 
which said that the Arnericaas should not trade with any 



11 g AN ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

country but England. All their rice, tobacco, and other 
products must be sent there and whatever they wanted in 
return must be brouHit from there. But the Eno^lish would 
not pay as much for these goods as other countries, so the 
Americans lost much of their prolit. 

Then another law was made which said that no goods 
should be carried to or from England in American ships. 
All trade with England must be done in English ships. 
The American ships might rot at their wharves. Even the 
trade from one colony to another was partly stopped. 

Restriction of Manufactures. — At the same time the peo- 
ple of America were not allowed to make anything for them- 
selves. There was much iron dug from the mines, but it 
must all be sent to England, and pay a tax for going there. 
Then it was made into useful articles and sent back, and 
had to pay another tax. It was the same with other goods 
than those made of iron. The laws became so severe that 
a farmer could not even cut down a large tree on his own 
land without permission from the officers of the king. 

At first the laAVS were not so strict as this. But as time 
went on, and the English merchants and manuf^icturers saw 
that the Americans were growing rich, they had the laws 
made more severe, until the Americans were allowed to do 
very little besides farming, and had to get everything but 
their food from England, in English ships. 

The Laws evaded. — All this was hard to bear. When 
men have a chance to grow rich they do not like to work 
hard to make other men rich, while they stay poor. Many 
of the people of America refused to submit to the English 
laws. Some of them made and sold goods in spite of the 
laws. Others who owned ships sent them to foreign coun- 
tries, and brought l)ack goods on which no tax or duty was 
paid to the government. 



THE UNITED STATES. 117 

This is what is called smuggling. The officers of the 
government tried to put a stop to it. A law w^as passed 
which said that the king's officers might enter and search 
any house where they thought that smuggled goods were 
hidden. The papers authorizing this were called " Writs 
of Assistance." Nothing could have made the people more 
angry than this. They said that " every man's house is his 
castle," and that no officer had a right to enter a dwelling- 
house on mere suspicion. Thus, as every one may see, 
there Avas getting to be bad feeling between the Americans 
and the English. 

The Right of Taxation. — But the resistance of the people 
only made the English government more severe. As the 
merchants and manufacturers of England were growing 
rich from the labor of the Americans, the government 
thought it also ought to have more American money than 
it was receiving. The French and Indian war had cost 
England a great deal of money, and the English government 
claimed that as this money had been spent for the good of 
the colonies, they should help to pay it back. The colonies 
were paying much money to it already in the way of the 
duty on all goods sent by ships into or out of the country. 
This was an indirect tax, but the government claimed that 
it had the riHit to lay a direct tax also. 

The American Reply. — The people of the colonies an- 
swered that they were willing to tax themselves and pay 
the money to the government, but that no one else had the 
right to tax them. They would not pay taxes levied by the 
English Parliament, because they had no one to speak for 
them in that Parliament. If the government wanted to tax 
them it should let them send representatives to look after 
their interests. 

The Principle of Taxation. — All this was reasonable. 



118 '<-'^' ELKMEXTARV IfJSTOin' OF 

Every Knii-lislnnaii at lioino claimod that rii;-lit, and the 
Ainerieans tlunio-ht they (Miii'ht to have it too. Hut the u"ov- 
ernment wouhl not listen to them. Tt had made up its 
mind to treat them as shives, and ioree tliem to pay what 
taxes it pleased without ii'iving them a voiee in tlie makinii' 
of the laws. The rulers of England did not know what 
they were doing. They had no idea how strongly the 
Amerieans were set a^'ainst tvrannv. They were soon to 
lind out. 

The Stamp Act. — The tirst direet tax law was passed in 
1705. Tt was ealled the " Stamp Aet," and deelared that all 
legal papers drawn in Ameriea, sueh as deeds, hills, eon- 
traets, and the like, must he made on stamped paper, whieh 
paper was to be sold by the tax eolleetors. There was noth- 
ing very wrong in this. Laws of this kind have long existed 
in England. AVe have had them in the United States, and 
have paid the tax eheerfully. Tt was the way the law was 
passed that made all the trouble. Tt was as if England had 
said, " AVo intend to tax you when and liow we [)lease, and 
you shall have nothing to do with it exeept to pay the 
taxes.*' This was the beginning of the dispute whieh in 
ten years was to bring the eountry into war. 

The whole people grew angry when they heard of this law. 
They said that they had had nothing to do with making- 
it and that they would not submit to it. Patriek Tlenry, a 
great orator of Virginia, deelared that the i)eople, and only 
the people, had a right to tax the people. They eould vote 
taxes in their own assemblies, if they were asked to, but no 
other Inuly of law-makers had the right to vote taxes for 
them to pay. 

Repeal of the Stamp Act. — The stamps were sent to 
Ameriea, but the people Avould not use them. Tn some places 
they burned them. In others they forced the stamp officers 



THE UNITED STATES. 



119 



to resign, or made images of them and burned these images 
before their doors. Tliey declared that till the act was re- 
pealed they would not use English goods, but would make 
their own. Thev would all wear homespun clothes, and 




would eat no mutton, so that they could have more wool to 
weave into cloth. 

Agents were sent to London to try and have the Stamp 
Act repealed. Benjamin Franklin was one of these. He 
did much to let the members of Parliament see how the 
American people felt. In 1766 the Stamp Act was repealed, 



120 ^N ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

because it was clear that it could not be enforced. IN"© 
American Avould buy a sheet of the stamped paper. 

Soldiers sent to America. — In 1767 taxes were laid on 
tea, glass, paints, and other articles, and soldiers were sent 
to America to force the people to pay these taxes. The 
Americans were also ordered to pay for the support of these 
soldiers. They answered that this was not just. They did 
not want to be treated like a nation that had been conquered 
in Avar. Their protest made the king very angry, and he 
sent four regiments of soldiers to Boston to support the tax 
officers. This was done because the people of Boston were 
very violent against the new taxes. The presence of the 
soldiers made them more angry still, and disputes and quar- 
rels arose between the people and the soldiers. One day, in 
1770, a light took place between some soldiers and a party 
of the citizens of Boston. The soldiers fired and several 
persons were killed. This added much to the angry feel- 
ing of the people. They called this aflfair the "Boston 
Massacre," and as the news of it spread over the country 
the colonists everywhere began to think of fighting for their 
rights. 

The Tax on Tea. — For several years things went on in 
this way, the people growing more angry with the English 
government. As they would not pay the taxes, Parliament 
tried another plan. They took ofii" all the taxes except a 
small one on tea. This was such a trifle that they thought 
no one would object to it. They did not perceive that it was 
not the money that the Americans cared for, but the princi- 
ple. As soon as the tax was laid the colonists refused to 
buy tea, though they liad before used a great deal of it. 

The Boston Tea-Party. — Then the king, George III., 
made up his mind to force them to take the tea. Ship-loads 
of it were sent to all the American ports. But the people, 



THE UNITED STATES. 121 

who were then using the leaves of various plants to make tea 
of, would not have the English tea. In ]^ew York and Phila- 
delphia the captains were ordered to take their tea back 
again to England. In Charleston tlie tea was stored in 
damp warehouses, where it soon moulded and became use- 
less. In Annapolis the tea Avas burned. In Boston the 
governor refused to send back the tea, but the people would 
not let it be unloaded. At last a party of young men dressed 
like Indians ran to the wharves, rushed on board the vessels, 
l)roke open the chests, and emptied all the tea into the 
harbor. This is what has been called the " Boston Tea- 
Party." It put an end to the effort of Parliament to tax the 
Americans. 

The Boston Port Bill. — Wlien the news of this act reached 
Eno-land tlie kins; was furious, and it was determined that 
Boston should be severely punished. So a bill was passed 
called the '' Boston Port Bill." It forbade any vessel to enter 
or leave Boston, except those with wood or provisions, and 
even these had trouble to get in. The whole trade of the 
port was cut off, and the town was so fall of soldiers that 
the law could easily be carried out. 

Threats of "War. — This law took effect on June 1, 1774. 
It made the people of the whole country very indignant. 
Provisions and money were sent to Boston from all the colo- 
nies. Instead of the Americans being frightened, they were 
more determined than ever. It began to look as if it must 
all end in war, and the people got their arms ready, and 
drilled, and formed companies ready to march at a minute's 
warning. These were called " Minute-Men." In Septem- 
ber, 1774, all the colonies sent delegates to Philadelphia, to 
meet and talk over the troubles. This assembly was called 
the First Continental Congress. It sent an address to the 
king, and advised the people to stop all trade with England 

F 11 



122 ^^ ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

till the tax laws were repealed. It declared that the people 
of America had the right to govern and to tax themselves, 
and that they would not submit to force, l)ut would defend 
themselves against oppression. Such was the state of the 
country at the beginning of the year 1775. 

II.— THE WOKK OF THE MINUTE-MEN. 

Growth of the Colonies. — We have next to describe the 
greatest event in American history, that by which the peo- 
ple of America became free, and began their growth from 
a group of weak colonies into one of the noblest nations on 
the face of the earth. 

It was now a little more than a hundred and fifty years 
since the English had first settled in America. In that cen- 
tury and a half the colonies had grown to be strong and were 
becoming united. There were more than two millions of 
people in them, and they were fast growing rich and pros- 
perous. Since the close of the French and Indian war they 
had made great progress. 

Ten Years of Tyranny. — In 1765 no one in America 
thouo:ht of becomino; free from EnHand. In 1775 most of 

o o o 

the people of the country wanted to become free. That was 
what England had done in ten years by trying to make 
slaves of the Americans. 

The Feeling of the People. — At the opening of the event- 
ful year 1775, Boston was the centre of the troubles. The 
king had ruined its business, taken from many of its people 
the means of living, and filled it with soldiers. But all 
through !N'ew England the people were getting ready to fight, 
drilling as soldiers, and collecting arms, gunpowder, and 
other warlike articles in convenient places. The whole coun- 
try was like a barrel of gunpowder, ready to explode if fire 



THE UNITED STATES. 123 

touched it. AVe have now to tell how the English applied 

the fire. 

The Stores at Concord.— The Americans had collected 
some military stores at the town of Concord, near Boston. 
General Gao:e, who commanded the soldiers in Boston, 
determined to destroy these. So one night he sent out a 
body of troops to march secretly to Concord and destroy 
them before the people could know what was being done. 
He did not understand the spirit of the people he was deal- 
ing with. It is very easy to throw a stone into a hornets' 
nest, but it is not so easy to get away from the stings of the 
hornets. This General Gage was soon to find out. 

Paul Revere's Ride.— The people of Boston were watch- 
ing the soldiers. They had some idea of the plans of the 
British, and were ready for them. As soon as the troops 
began to move a signal light was hung in a church window. 
On the other side of the river a man named Paul Eevere 
was watching for this light. The moment he saw it he 
mounted his horse and rode at full speed through the country. 
At every house and village he woke the people and told them 
the British were coming. At once the men seized their 
rifles and powder-horns and hastened to the appointed place 
of meeting. By daybreak a party of them were collected in 
the village of Lexington, on the road to Concord. 

The Fight at Lexington. — The soldiers reached Lexington 
about four o'clock in the morning of April 19, 1775. There 
were two or three hundred of them, and they found about 
sixty armed farmers drawn up on the green. " Disperse, ye 
rebels," cried the English officer. '' Lay down your arms 
and disperse." Then the soldiers fired, and eight of the 
Americans fell dead. Others were wounded. That was the 
first bloodshed in the Revolutionary war. With that fire 
of musketry began the war that was to set America free. 



124 



AN ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

Pllf 




THE UNITED STATES. 125 

The Retreat from Concord. — The soldiers hurried on to 
Concord, wliere they destroyed all the supplies they could 
find. But the Americans had been bus}^ during the night 
carrying their stores to the woods. A strong force of min- 
ute-men had gathered at Concord. The British fired on 
these and the Americans fired back. Several of the soldiers 
were killed and wounded, and the others retreated in 
disorder. 

But it was when the soldiers began to march back to Bos- 
ton that they found the hornets were out of their nest and 
ready to sting them. They had sixteen miles to go, and all 
along this distance the minute-men were gathered behind 
trees and stone walls, firing on them at every step. The 
British fell like dead leaves. At last they ran in a panic. 
Few or none of them would have got back, only that another 
strong force of soldiers marched out and met them at 
Lexington. 

There were eighteen hundred of them now, but the 
farmers fired on them all the way to Boston, and they were 
glad enough to get under shelter of the guns of their ships 
of war. They had been saying to themselves that the 
Americans were cowards and would not fight. They were 
not likely to say that again. 

The People in Arms. — The day before April 19 the 
country had been at peace. The day after it was at war. 
The story of the fight went like wildfire through the coun- 
try. Everywhere the farmers left their ploughs and seized 
their rifles. In hundreds and thousands they hurried 
towards Boston. Soon there were twenty thousand men 
around that city. The British had made their last march 
out of Boston by land. When they went again they would 
have to go as tljey had come, in their ships by sea, 

Capture of Ticonderog-a. — The " Green Mountain Boys/' 

11* 



126 ^^ ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

of Vermont, did not march to Boston. Ethan Allen led 
them to Fort Ticonderoga, on Lake Champlain, which they 
captured, May 10, without firing a gun. The fort at Crown 
Point was taken in the same way, and many cannon 
captured. 

Breed's Hill fortified. — Such was the opening of the war. 
ISTow we must tell of the first great battle. One dark night 
the Americans went out to build a fort of earth on Bunker 
Hill, near Boston; but they found that Breed's Hill was 
still nearer, so they built their fort on that. When day broke, 
June 17, the British found that there was a long wall of earth 
where none had been the night before. Behind this wall 
lay men with rifles in their hands. There was only one 
thing to be done : they must drive the Americans out of 
these earthworks or they could not stay in Boston. 

The First Battle of the War. — The ships began firing, 
but the Americans went on with their work. Then three 
thousand soldiers crossed the river in boats and began to 
march up the hill. The American militia, under General 
Putnam and Colonel Prescott, lay behind 
their bank of earth and saw these soldiers 
— some of the best trained in the world 
— marching steadily upward. Ko one 
had dreamed that raw volunteers could 
stand before such veteran troops, yet the 
Americans did not fiincli. " Aim low. 
Don't fire till you can see the whites of 
their eyes," said the American general. 
So they waited till the soldiers were close 
to the works and then fired. Every shot told. Down went 
dozens of men. No living beings could stand such a fire, and 
the soldiers turned and ran hastily down the hill. They had 
found out to their sorrow what American marksmen could do. 




THE UNITED STATES. J 27 

They came on once more and were met with a second 
terrible volley. Down the hill they ran in a panic again. 
Their officers had great trouble to get them to face a third 
time the American fire. But the Americans were now 
nearly out of powder. They fired once more, and then used 
their guns as clubs to drive back the soldiers. When the 
British found that the firing had stopped, they came on with 
the bayonet, while the ships fired cannon-balls into the 
works. The Americans now had to retreat. They were 
followed by the furious soldiers and many of them were 
killed in the retreat. But they had killed more than twice 
as many as they lost, and had taught the world that Ameri- 
can militia were not afraid to fight British regulars. 

The Action of Congress. — AVe must tell more ra})idly 
what followed. The Second Continental Congress met at 
Philadelphia in May, 1775. There was much to be done 
now. Laws had to be passed for the whole country, and 
preparations made to carry on the war. for the people were 
all determined that it should go on. General AVashington 
was made commander of the army at Boston, and money 
was voted for the purposes of the war. The people were 
willing enough to pay taxes to their own Congress, though 
they would not to the English Parliament. Their feeling 
was afterwards expressed in these words : " Millions for 
defence ; not one cent for tribute." 

Evacuation of Boston. — Xow there was war in earnest. 
AVashington drilled the army at Boston and did his best to 
make soldiers out of farmers. It took a long time to do this, 
and it was the spring of the next year before he was ready. 
Tlien one night he built strong earthworks on Dorehester 
Heights, south of Boston. The British general looked at 
tliese works and quickly saw that he could not take them 
without losing many of his men. and that he could not stay 



128 ^^' ELEMENTARY IIJSTOKF OF 

in Boston if ho did not take them. So he decided to leave. 
On March 17, 1776, his men were marclied on board the 
vessels, which set sail for Halifax, never to return to Boston. 
The same day the Americans took possession of the city 
which they had so long besieged. 

The Attack on Quebec. — While this was going on the 
Americans tried to take Canada. Two armies were led 
there, one under General Montgomery and one under Gen- 
eral Arnold. Montreal was captured and the army marched 
to Quebec. This city proved too strong. General Mont- 
gomery was killed, and General Arnold, who now took com- 
mand, stayed there during the winter, but had to retreat the 
next spring. The British followed him down Lake Cham- 
plain and had a naval battle with him on that lake. The 
Americans had fancied that the Canadians would join them, 
but they refused to do so, and Canada remained a British 
province. 

Fort Moultrie defended. — There is one more event of 
importance that took place at this time. The English gov- 
ernment thought that it ought to make sure of the Southern 
colonies. So in June a fleet was sent to Charleston, South 
Carolina. But it was soon found that the Southerners were 
as determined not to be slaves as the Northerners. Fort 
Moultrie, at the mouth of the harbor, was built of logs of 
the soft palmetto wood. The balls from the shi})S sunk in 
these and did little harm. Those from the fort did great 
damage to the ships. In the end the fleet had to turn and 
sail away. 

Brave Sergeant Jasper. — There was one event of this 
battle that is well worth telling. During the fight the flag- 
staft' on the fort was cut by a ball, and the flag fell on the 
sand at the foot of the wall. A bold young sergeant, named 
Jasper, sprang down where the buUets were coming in like 



THE UNITED STATES. 129 

hail, seized the fla<j:, and soon had it floating proudly again 
on the fort. This has always been looked upon as one of 
the bravest deeds of the whole war. 

Footsteps of Freedom. — And now we must finish this 
part of our story by telhng what turned the war from a rebel- 
lion into a revolution. When the Americans began to fight, 
it was done to teach the king and his government that they 
would not pay taxes if they were not allowed to help make 
the laws. But many of them thought that America ought 
to be free, and as the war went on this feeling spread widely 
among the people. They quit fighting for their rights 
under the British government, and began to fight for their 
freedom from that government. 

The Continental Congress was still in session at Phila- 
delphia, and the desire for freedom grew as strong among 
the delegates as it was among the people. The first motion 
for liberty was made on June 7, 177G, by Richard Henry 
Lee, of Virginia. He moved that the colonies, one and all, 
" of right ought to be free and independent States." 

The Declaration of Independence. — Five men were then 
appointed as a committee to draw up a 
Declaration of Independence. On this \ ^ 

committee were Benjamin Franklin, / - '^ « 

John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson. 
Jefferson wrote the Declaration, which 
was immediately brought before Con- 
gress, and adopted by it on the 4th of 
July, 1776. All the members signed it, 
and this valuable old paper still exists, 
with their signatures to it. As soon as 
word came that it had passed there rang 
out loud and stirring peals from the bell of the old State- 
House, on which was the inscription, "Proclaim liberty 




JEFFERSON. 



130 



AN ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 



throughout the land to all the inhabitants thereof." The 
news had been told to the old bell-ringer, and he pulled at the 
rope with all his might, while every stroke of the bell seemed 
to send the w^ord " Liberty" ringing over the land. Every- 
where the people rejoiced to learn that they had been de- 
clared free. The statue of King George, in New York, was 
thrown into the dirt of the streets, and the arms of England 




READING THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE TO THE PEOPLE. 



were torn down from the public buildings of the cities and 
burned in the streets, while the flag of Great Britain ceased 
to float anywhere in the new republic, for at that time there 
was not a British soldier on American soil. 

It was a grand declaration that had been made, and all 
lovers of liberty throughout the world heard of it with 
gladness. It said that a new nation was born upon the 



THE UNITED STATES. 131 

earth, and that the people of America were no longer fight- 
ing for the right to tax themselves, hut for the right to 
govern themselves. But many dark days were to pass hefore 
they could gain the privilege of doing so in peace.* 



III.— THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE. 

The Meaning" of the Declaration. — The people of America 
had declared that they were free and independent, but 
that did not make them so. They were to have years of 
hard iighting and great suffering before they could really 
become free. But now they had something of value to light 
for. They were no longer troubled about paying taxes at 
the command of the English Parliament. They had de- 
clared that in future they would make their own laws, lay 
their own taxes, and carry on their own alfairs, and that no 
other nation should rule them. That is what was meant by 
the Declaration of Independence, adopted on the 4th of July, 
1776 ; and that is what has made the 4th of July ever since 
a day to be celebrated. It is the greatest day in the history 
of America. 

The Loss of New York. — After the Declaration the war 
went on more fiercely than before. The British had been 
driven out of Boston, so they decided to take ^ew York. 
Washington tried to defend it, but he did not have men 
enough, and after a hard battle on Long Island he had to 

* The first Declaration of Independence in America was made by a con- 
vention of delegates in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, in May, 1775. 
They were chosen by the militia of that county, and were in session when the 
news of the battle of Lexington was received. They at once passed resolu- 
tions which declared the colonies to be free from English rule and entitled to 
govern themselves. This action was well received throughout Western North 
Carolina, and a copy of the resolutions was sent to Congress at Philadelphia. 



132 ^N ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

retreat and give up the city. The British army held Xew 
York from that time till the end of tlie war. 

The Retreat across New Jersey. — The country was now 
in a sad state. Washington's army was not half as strong 
as that of his enemies. Very few of the men were trained 
soldiers. They were short of powder, guns, provisions, and 
all that an army needs. It was now the winter of 1776. 
Washington found that he could not hold his own against 
the British, so he had to retreat. lie marched his poor, 
ragged, hungry men south across New Jersey, and as he 
went he burnt the bridges to keep the British back. When 
he got to the Delaware River, he took possession of all the 
boats that could be found, and had his army rowed across. 
The British quickly came up, but Washington's army was 
safe. There was a river between them, and no boats for 
the British to cross in. 

The Peeling of the People.— The British were full of 
hope and joy, for they thought the fighting was nearly at an 
end, and settled down to pass the winter in peace. All 
through Europe it was believed that the American cause 
was ruined, and that the colonists would have to submit. 
Many of the Americans thought so too. They saw their 
army growing smaller every day, and knew^ that most of 
the men would go home on the 1st of January, as the time 
for which they had enlisted would end then. They had 
joined the army only for the year, and not many new men 
were coming to take their place. The people everywhere 
w^ere disheartened, and many thought there was no chance 
of success. 

Washington crosses the Delaware. — But there was one 
man that did not think so, and that man Avas George Wash- 
ington. He waited till Christmas, and then led his men 
across the Delaware into New Jersey. It was a terrible 



THE UNITED STATES. 133 

crossing ; the weather was very cold, and the river full of 
cakes of floating ice. Yet he got the army across and 
marched all night towards Trenton, Avhere a British force 
Avas feasting and frolicking without the thought of an 
enemy. This force was made up of Hessians, — soldiers from 
Germany who had heen hired from their rulers and sent 
•over by England to fight the Americans. 

Trenton and Princeton. — It was early in the morning 
when Washington reached the town. The Hessians were 
taken by surprise, many of them were killed and wounded, 
and a thousand taken prisoners. A few days afterwards 
Washington met another British force near Princeton and 
defeated them. Soon after that the British left New Jersey 
and Washington remained in possession. The Americans 
who had been in despair now became full of hope. In 
Europe the feeling changed. It began to be thought that 
America would win, and everybody spoke of George Wash- 
ington as the great hero of the age. 

Philadelphia captured. — The year 1777 was an important 
year of the war. In the Middle States the 
Americans lost ground, but in the Xorth 
they gained a great victory. The British 
left ]N'ew York, with a strong fleet and a 
large army, and sailed up Chesapeake Bay. 
Washington hastened to meet them, and a 
severe battle was fought on the Brandywine 
Creek, below Philadelphia, at which the Mar- 
quis de La Fayette,. a distinguished French l^ fayettk. 
officer, an aide to General Washington, was 
severely wounded. The Americans were defeated and had to 
fall back, and the British army marched into Philadelphia. 

The Winter at Valley Porg-e. — Some other fighting took 
place, and there was a severe battle at Germantown, near 

12 




134 A^ ELEMENTARY HISTORY OE 

rhiladolpliia. Rut the British coukl not be driven from the 
city, and when winter eame on the American ^ army went 
into winter-quarters at a plaee cahed Valley Forg-e, nortli- 
west of rhihulel[)hia. This winter was the most terrible 
one of the whole war. The weather was very cold, and the 
men were nearly destitute of clothes and blankets to keep 
them warm and food to keep them alive. Some of thenr 
liad to walk through the snow barefoot, their bleeding feet 
staining the snow red as they marched. AVhen spring came 
nearly half the men were dead. Cold and hunger and 
sickness had been more fatal to them than the guns of the 
enemy. Yet those that lived w^ere good patriots still, and 
as ready to light for their country as before. And Wash- 
ington never despaired. 

Burgoyne's March. — In the Xorth, as we have said, tbe 
Americans had gained a great victory, and this gave spirit 
to the sutfering army in Pennsylvania. A powerful British 
army had marched down from Canada by the old route of 
the French, that of Lake Champlain and Lake George. 
They thought they could cut New England oif from Kew 
York, and thus divide the colonies into two parts. They 
took all the old forts, — Ticonderoga, Crown Point, and 
others. Another army was coming up the Hudson to meet 
them, and everything looked bad for the Americans. 

The Battle of Bennington. — But the men of that region 
were everywhere marchino^, rifle in hand, to defend their 
country. The Iroquois Indians had joined the British, but 
these were scared off and gave up the. fight. The parties 
of the British sent out to collect food were attacked by the 
Americans. One of these parties was met at Bennington, 
Vermont, by General Stark, with his " Green Mountain 
Boys," and badly defeated. When the battle began Stark 
called out to his men, '' There are the red-coats. Before 



THE UNITED STATES. 135 

night they are ours, or Molly Stark is a widow." And 
he meant what he said ; hefore night he had six hundred 
prisoners and the rest of the British were retreating in 
dismay. 

Surrender of Burgoyne. — It was not long before Bur- 
goyne, the British commander, found that he had led his 
men into a tra^) from which he could not get them out. He 
had gone so far south tliat he could not return, nor could 
he march any farther onward. The Americans were every- 
where around him. Ilis army was short of food, and he 
did not dare to send out parties in search of it, for fear they 
would be captured. He made two fierce attacks on the 
American earthworks, but could not take them. Finally 
he had to surrender his whole army to the Americans. 
This took place at Saratoga, October 17, 1777. It was one 
of the most important events of the war, and had a wonder- 
ful effect on the spirits of tlie Americans and on the feelings 
of the people of Europe. It was, in fact, the turning-point 
of the war. 

The Treaty with Prance. — The next year France made a 
treaty with America and sent over a large fleet to help in 
the w^ar. This fleet did little in the w^ay of ser\dce, but it 
gave ho[)e to the Americans, w^hile its presence discouraged 
the English. Their government now^ off'ered to do away 
with all the laws to which the Americans objected, if they 
w^ould lay down their arms and surrender. This ofler came 
too late. The Americans had determined to be free, and 
nothing less would satisfy them now. 

The Retreat from Philadelphia. — In 1778 the British in 
Pliiladelphia began to fear that if they stayed there much 
longer they might be caught in as bad a trap as Burgoyne 
had been. The Americans were gathering around them, and 
there was dano-er that the Delaware mii>:ht be closed a^rainst 



136 ^^ ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

their ships. So they started on a hasty march across New 
Jersey to New York. Washington followed them, fought 
with them, and captured some of them, hut the main army 
got safel}^ to New York. 

Mad Anthony Wayne. — During 1778 and 1779 there was 
not much done. A British fleet sailed south and took the 
city of Savannah. This was the first victory the British liad 
gained in the Southern States. In the North the Americans 
were victorious in one important fight. General Wayne, or 
" Mad Anthony Wayne,'- as he was afterwards called, made 
a sudden attack on Stony Point, a fort on the Hudson 
River. He took it with the hayonet, without firing a shot, 
and captured some very valuable stores. 

The Massacre of Wyoming.— One of the most dreadful 
events of the war took place in the summer of 1778. A 
hand of Indians, British, and tories made an attack on the 
beautiful Valley of Wyoming, in Northern Pennsylvania. 
They took the fort, which had in it onl}^ old men, women, 
and children, and killed them all Avithout mercy. The 
whole settlement was destroyed, and few of the iuhabitants 
escaped the cruel tomahawk. 

Captain Paul Jones. — One great battle took place on the 
sea. Paul Jones, a brave American captain, sailed with a 
fe^v ships all round the coast of England, and kept the whole 
island m alarm. At length he met a British war vessel, 
the Serapis. His ship was called the Bonhomme Richard. 
The fight that followed was one of the most desperate that 
ever took place on the sea. The Bonhomme Richard Avas 
set on fire, and was so fidl of cannon-ball holes that it began 
to sink, but Paul Jones fought on. In the end the British 
surrendered. Captain Jones placed his men on board the 
Serapis and sailed away in triumph, leaving his oavu vessel 
to sink. There was no surrender in Captain Paul Jones, 



THE VMTED STATES. 



137 



and he is looked upon as one of the bravest men that ever 
sailed the seas. 

The Treason of Arnold. — In 1780 tlie war was nearly all 
in the South. Only one important event took place in the 
Xorth. Benedict Arnold, an American general of great 
skill and courage, but of a sullen temper, became angry 
because he thouo'ht that he had not been fairlv treated, and 
that other men had received the honor wliich he believed to 
be due to him. His discontent became so great in the end 
that lie determined to turn traitor to his country. So he 
asked Washington to give him command of AVest Point, a 
strong fort on the Hudson River. As soon as he got hold 
of it he laid plans to surrender it to the British. 

The Capture of Andre'. — Major Andre, a young British 
officer, Avas sent to consult with him. On his way back to 
Xew York, in disguise, Andre was taken prisoner by 
some Americans. They searched him, 
and in his stocking they found pa- 
pers which told what his business had 
been. Arnold escaped in a boat 
to a British war vessel in the river, 
but he did not succeed in giving the 
fort to the British. Every one felt 
pity for Major Andre, who was a "fine 
young man ; but he had been taken 
as a spv, and he was hano^ed as ^.^ . 

a spy. 

The South Carolina Partisans. — During 1780 and 1781 
tlie war was mostly in the South. The British captured 
Charleston, and soon had all South Carolina and Georgia in 
their liands. For a while there was no army to fight them ; 
but some brave and bold men — Marion, Sumter, and others — 
got small bodies of soldiers together, and gave the British 

12* 




138 



AN ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 



no end of trouble. They hid in the swamps, and attacked 
every small body of British soldiers they could meet. 
Marion was called the " Swamp Fox." The British thought 
it was very cowardly in him that he would not come out 
into the open field " to fight like an officer and a gentle- 
man." But when the time came they found him as brave in 
the open field as he had been in the swamps. 




THE MOORE HOUSE, WHERE LORD CORNWALLIS SlGiNED THE ARTICLES OF CAPITULATION. 



Generals Greene and Cornwallis. — In 1781, General 
Greene took connnand of the army in the South. He was 
a very skilful officer, fought the British at every opportunity, 
and even when he was beaten he managed so that they got 
no good from their victory. At last General Cornwallis, 
who commanded the British army in the South, marched 



THE UNITED STATES. 139 

north to Virginia. Benedict Arnold, the traitor, was there 
with a British force, doing all the damage he could. 

The Surrender of Cornwallis. — Cornwallis made York- 
town his head-quarters. Here he threw up earthworks, 
and waited for help from New York. Washington, who 
had heen pretending that he was going to attack Xew York, 
now saw his chance, and marched south with the greatest 
speed. At the same time a French fleet sailed into York 
River to keep oif any British ships that might come from 
Xew York. Very soon Cornwallis found tliat his army was 
surrounded, while cannon-balls were battering his works to 
pieces. He made an attempt to escape, but did not succeed, 
and was forced to surrender. This event took place on the 
19th of October, 1781. 

The Treaty of Peace. — It was the last event of the war. 
There was no more lighting, and America was free. Two 
years afterwards a treaty of peace was signed, in which Eng- 
land acknowledged the freedom of America. From that 
time forward the American people have taken their place 
among the nations of mankind, under the title of " The 
United States of America,"' — a title which now belongs to 
one of the greatest nations upon the earth. 

IV.— THE PEOPLE AXD THE COUNTRY. 

The People and their 'Ways. — AVhat kind of a nation 
was it that was made by the Declaration of Independence ? 
How many people were in it, and what were their modes of 
life ? That is what we have next to consider. At the time 
of the Revolution, America was very different from what it 
had been a hundred years before, and very different from 
what it had become a hundred years after. So this is a 
good resting-point, where we can stop and take a look at 



140 ^N ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

the people, and see how they lived and what they were 
doing. 

The Population of America. — We cannot say just how 
many people there were in America at that time, but there 
were more than two millions, possibly two and a half mil- 
lions. This was a small population for a country of su(ih 
size, extending fifteen hundred miles along the sea-coast 
and for some distance back into the interior. But this ter- 
ritory was very thinly settled. Even along the sea-coast the 
greater part of it was a wilderness, mostly covered with 
forest trees. The towns were small and far apart, and the 
largest cities had not more than twenty thousand inhabitants. 
The people in those days thought that ^ew York and Phila- 
delphia were important cities, but now we would look on 
them as only good-sized country towns. 

The State of the Interior. — Few of the settlements ex- 
tended far back from the sea-coast, or from the great rivers. 
In IN'ew York most of the settlers kept near to the Hudson ; 
in Pennsylvania they did not go far from the Delaware. 
The back country w^as yet in great part covered by forests, 
and was the home of the Indians and of white hunters. In 
the South there were more people. In Virginia and the 
Carolinas they had gone much farther back from the coast. 
Daniel Boone, a bold and daring hunter, had led a party 
over the mountains into Kentucky. Some others had gone 
to Tennessee. But these few men had to live with rifle in 
hand, for their lives were every minute in danger. Daniel 
Boone had many adventures with the Indians, but he es- 
caped all peril and lived to be an old man. 

Whence the People came. — The people of America had 
come from many countries of Europe. There were Ger- 
mans in Pennsylvania and Dutch in Kew York. Along the 
Delaware there were Swedes, and in parts of the South there 



THE UMTED STATES. 141 

were settlements of French and of Hig'hlanclers from Scot- 
land. But most of the people were of English descent, and 
the others hv degrees took np the language and the w^ays of 
the English, so that in time all these unlike people grew 
together into one nation. 

The Farming Population. — Most of the people of Amer- 
ica were farmers. In those days there were none of the 
great factories and workshops which we now see almost 
everywhere. The soil was rich and gave plentiful crops, and 
there might be seen fine farm-houses, large barns full of corn, 
wheat, and hay, and great flocks of sheep and cattle in the 
fields, ^ew England and the Middle colonies were famous 
for sheep and corn. Nearly everything was done at home. 
While the men worked in the fields, the women spun wool 
and flax and made most of the clothing for the family. The 
firmer had to be a mechanic also. He made most of the 
things he used. Even the nails he needed were hammered 
out by him during the winter. The children were kept busy, 
too, though there were schools where they could get some 
little education. 

Agriculture of the South. — In the South agriculture was 
also the principal business of the country. Here the land 
was divided into great plantations, and large crops of 
tobacco, rice, sugar, etc., were raised. Much tar and pitch 
were made in Xorth Carolina. These were sent to Europe 
and sold or exchanged for other goods, and the people of 
that section grew rich. We have already told how the 
planters and their slaves lived on these great plantations. 

New England Commerce. — But the people of America 
were not all farmers. Many of them built ships and en- 
gaged in commerce. Long before the war the cities of 
Boston, Xew York, and Philadelphia had a large trade. 
Many ships came and went between these cities and Ens:- 



14: 



AN ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 



land, and some went to France and Spain to bring back 
caro-oes of wine and silks. This was as^ainst the English 




THE OLD-TIME SPINNING-WHEEL. 



law, but the people thought this law unjust and did not hesi- 
tate to break it. Vessels were built in Boston and sent to 



THE UXJTED STATES. 143 

the West Indies, where they were traded oiF for rum and 
sugar, for which articles there was much demand in those 
days. Many more were sent to England and sold there. 
As early as 1763, Xew England had a thousand ships in its 
trade, besides the vessels of the hardy fishermen of the 
coast. ^lany of these ships were sent in search of whales, 
which were then far more plentiful than now. 

Manufacturing Industry. — There was not much manu- 
facturing done in America. The laws of England had for- 
hidden the people to make goods for themselves. They 
were watched closelv, yet thev manao-ed to make some 
things. In Xew England there were a few mills for working 
iron. Hats were made of furs. In Pennsylvania very good 
leather was made. But the merchants of England did all 
they could to put a stop to this, and to make the Americans 
buy everything from them. 

Of course they had to build their own houses, and to do 
many things which could not be done for them across the 
ocean. And after the Revolution they quickly began to do 
many other things for themselves, so that the commerce and 
manufactures of America increased very rapidly. There 
were several newspapers printed, but they were very small 
compared with those we see to-day. The first newspaper in 
America was The Xtivs Letter, which was started in Boston 
in 170-1. In 1775 each of the cities of Boston, Xew York, 
and Philadelphia had four newspapers. 

Travel in America. — Xot much can be said for the cities 
of that period. Many of the great cities of to-day were 
then small villages, or were still forest land. Boston had less 
than eighteen thousand people ; Xew York and Philadelphia 
about twenty thousand each. There were no large cities in 
the South, Baltimore being but a small town, while Charles- 
ton had only a few thousand inhabitants. To travel from 



144 



AN ELEMENT A liV HISTORV OF 



city to city was no easy task. There were some good roads 
in the North, but in tlie iSouth the roads were very })oor. 
In winter and si)rini>' most of the roads were little more 
than a series of mnd-holes. The fastest stage-coach be- 
tween New York and IMiiladelphia took two days for the 
trip, and it was a long and tiresome journey from Boston 
to NcAv York. Therefore the people of the ditferent colo- 



v«^ 







OLD TOLL-GATE. 



nies had very little to do with one 
another. There is more travel in a day now than there was 
in a year then. 

The Condition of the Cities. — Tliere were some handsome 
houses in the cities, l)ut not many. In New York trees 
were })lanted l)efore the houses, and there Avere railings on 
the roofs, so that people could sit tliere on summer evenings 
to enjoy the cool air. There were lamps in the streets. 
Broadway was thought a splendid avenue, though it was 
not very long and soon ended in the open country. 

Philadelphia was then the most important city in the 



TlIE UMTKI) STATES. 145 

country. It had been laid out In' W^illiaiu I'cnii with Ijroad 
and regular streets, while those of Xew York and Boston 
were crooked and narrow. Yet, much as it was spoken of 
in that day, it was a mere dwarf of a city compared with 
the present Phihidelphia, and extended but a short distance 
back from the banks of the iJelaware. 

Equality and Habits of the People. — There were no men 
of great riches in those days. Very few men in the country 
had ten thousand dollars a year to spend. Most of the 
people were nearly equal in wealth. There was little poverty 
and little riches. The people were simple in their manners, 
an<l did not live expensively. One of their worst faults was 
their fondness for liquor. They drank much more than 
people do novr, and drunkenness was very common. 

Extent of the United States. — The country which the 
peo|)le had won for themselves by their hard fight with 
England w^as much smaller than the United States of our 
present maps. Canada was held by England. Its people 
had shown no wish to be free. In the South, Florida be- 
longed to Spain; but Florida then reached farther north 
than it does now, and had a strip of land fifty miles wide 
extending along the Gulf of Mexico to the Mississip])i Eiver, 
so that it cut off the United States from the Gulf. And all 
the vast country that lies west of this river belonged to 
Spain. The United States of that day lay between the Mis- 
sissippi Kiver on the west and the Atlantic Ocean (jn the 
east, and between Canada on the north and Florida on the 
south. It w^as a great country then. It ha- grown to be a 
much greater country since. 

The States of the Union. — This country was divided into 
thirteen States. These were the same as the States which 
now lie along or near the Atlantic, except Maine and Ver- 
mont, which did not become States till afterw^ards. They 
q' k 13 



146 ^^ ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

were called the United States* of America, but they were 
not very closely united. Each of them was almost like a 
separate nation, for Congress had very little power over 
them. They sent some of their wisest men to Philadelphia 
to form part of the Congress which met there, hut they did 
not give them nnich power or authority. They had to gain 
their freedom first. There would he time enough after- 
wards to form a strong nation out of the several colonies. 



PART IV.-QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. 

I. In what ways were the Americans ill used by the English ? What laws 
were passed about their trade ? What was done about American ships ? 
Were Americans allowed to make goods for themselves ? What did the 
English want them to do ? Did the Americans obey the new laws ? What 
law was passed to stop smuggling ? How did the Americans like this ? Why 
did the English government wish to tax the Americans ? What reply did the 
Americans make ? What did the government do ? What was the character 
of the Stamp Act ? What did Patrick Henry declare ? How did the people 
receive the Stamp Act ? Who was sent to London to get the Stamp Act 
repealed? What other taxes were laid ? What was done to make the people 
pay these taxes ? Why were soldiers sent to Boston ? W^hat is meant by the 
" Boston Massacre" ? What did the Parliament next do about the taxes? Were 
the Americans willing to pay the tax on tea ? Why not ? How did they 
receive the cargoes of tea? What was done at Boston ? What was the Bos- 
ton Port Bill ? Did this frighten the people? What did they do? When 
and where did the "First Continental- Congress" meet? What action did 
it take ? 

II. What was the population of the cohniies at the time of the disputes 
with England? What had England done in ten years? What city was the 
centre of the rebellious feeling? W^here had the people collected stores? 
What did General Gage do ? Describe Paul Revere 's ride. On what day did 
the soldiers reach Lexington ? What happened there ? What was done at 
Concord ? Describe the retreat from Concord. How did the people of New 
England receive the news of this fight? What did Ethan Allen and the 
Green Mountain Boys do? Where did the Americans seek to build a fort? 
On what hill was it built? How were the British received when they tried 
to take the fort ? What was the end of the battle ? When did the Second 



THE U XI TED STATES. 147 

Continental Congress meet ? Who was made commander-in-chief of the 
army ? How were the British forced to leave Boston ? AVhat did the 
Americans attempt in Canada, and how did they succeed ? What city was 
attacked hy the British fleet ? With what result ? Describe Sergeant Jas- 
per's brave action. What was the purpose of the colonists in the war? 
What new purpose came into their minds ? What member of Congress first 
declared that the colonies ought to be free ? Who wrote the Declaration of 
Independence ? AVhen was it adopted ? What eflect did it have on the peo- 
ple ? What did it declare to lovers of liberty? 

III. What did the Declaration of Independence signify to the people? 
Why is the 4th of July kept as a national holiday ? What happened at New 
York ? What did Washington do after the loss of New York ? Describe 
his retreat. How did the people feel ? What did Washington do on Christ- 
mas Eve, 1776 ? How were the British at Trenton occupied ? What took 
place at Trenton? At Princeton? What was the effect of these victories in 
America and Europe ? Where did the British sail to in 1777 ? What was 
the effect of the battle of the Brandy wine ? At what other place was there a 
battle? AVhere did Washington's army pass the winter? What condition 
were the men in ? What other expedition did the British attempt ? What was 
their purpose? Describe the battle of Bennington. What did General 
Stark say to his men ? AVhat sort of a trap did Burgoyne fall into? What 
was he obliged to do ? Where and when did he surrender his army ? What 
country made a treaty with America in 1778? What did the English now 
offer to do? How did the Americans receive their offer? What did the 
British army in Philadelphia do in 1778? Why? What did Washington 
do ? What fort did Anthony Wayne attack ? How did he take it ? What 
happened in the Valley of Wyoming ? What did Captain Paul Jones do? 
What was the name of his ship? What English frigate did he meet? 
Describe the sea-fight that followed. Where did the fighting take place in 
1780? What did Greneral Arnold determine to do ? What fort did he get 
command of? "WTiat happened to Major Andre? Why was he hung? 
What Southern city did the British capture ? "\Miat leaders fought them in 
South Carolina? AYhat was their mode of fighting? What did the British 
think of it? Who took command of the Southern army in 1781 ? Who 
commanded the British army? What success did General Greene have? 
Where did Cornwallis go ? What did Washington do ? AVhat fleet came to 
help him ? What happened to the army of Cornwallis ? When did he sur- 
render ? Was there any more fighting ? When was the treaty of peace 
signed ? What was the new nation named ? 

I'V. What was the population of America after the Revolution ? How 
large was the country ? How thickly was it settled ? What was the size of 



148 ^^ ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

the largest cities ? "Where were the settlers mostly collected ? What was the 
condition of the interior? What was the state of the Southern population? 
What great hunter had gone to Kentucky ? What was the character of his 
life there ? From what countries had the people of America come ? In what 
business were most of them engaged ? What crops were raised ? What did 
the women do ? What did the farmers do at home ? What was raised in the 
South ? Where were these crops sold ? Describe the shipping trade of the 
colonies. How many ships had New England in 1763 ? What were these 
used for? Was there much manufacturing? What things were made? 
What was the name of the lirst newspaper ? How many newspapers were 
there in the principal cities in 1775? Tell the size of the diiferent cities. 
What is said about travelling? What kind of a city was New York? 
What was Philadelphia like ? What was the condition of the people ? 
What bad habit had they ? What was the extent of the United States ? 
AVhat were its boundaries ? How many States were there ? Were they 
closely united ? Did Congress then have much power ? 



THE U SITED STATES. 149 



PART V. 

THE FIRST HALF-CENTURY OF THE REPUBLIC. 

I. -THE MAKIXG OF THE GOVERXMEXT. 

After the War. — At the end of the Revolution the people 
of America were in a condition of poverty and misery. 
Business was at a stand-still, there was very little money, 
and not much of anything else useful. The country owed 
a great debt and had little to pay it ^vith. The paper money 
with which the soldiers had been paid had lost its value, 
and nobody would take it for goods. The people were very 
poor, vrith their farms ruined and many of their towns 
destroyed. Some of them were so desperate that they 
declared they would pay no debts or taxes. Two thousand 
such men in Massachusetts, led by a man named Daniel 
Shays, marched out "«ith their arms and defied the govern- 
ment. The State had some trouble to make them submit. 

Yet this distress could not long continue. The country 
only needed a little time to be all right again. It still had its 
soil, its mines, its ships, and its industrious inhabitants, and 
these were enough to make any country rich. England 
could no longer tell the people where they should trade or 
what they should make, or force them to pay taxes to sup- 
port her government. They were free now to work for and 
to govern themselves, and that was worth all it had cost. 

The Patriotism of Washington. — AVashington was looked 
ujyon by every one as the great man of the country. The 




150 ^^ ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

soldiers almost worshipped liim. He could not go anywhere 
without crowds gathering to see him. He might have nuide 
himself a king if he had done what some of his friends 
wished. But he was too great a lover of his country for 
that, and would not take from America 
the liberty which he had done so much 
to gain. He went back to his home at 
Mount Yernon, in Virginia, and became 
a simple farmer again. This was a noble 
act. Few men in Washington's position 
would have given up the power which 
was in his hands. All the world has 
praised him since as one of the greatest 
WASHINGTON. of patriots. 

The Constitutional Convention. — 
There was one work of great importance to be done before 
the country could prosper. Congress had hardly any power. 
It was made up of delegates from the States, but these 
States kept most of the power in their own hands. Con- 
gress could pass laws, but the States need not obey them 
unless they chose. Each State soon began to act as if it 
was an independent nation. Money was asked for l)y Con- 
gress to pay the interest on the debt, but very little of it 
was given, and hardly anything was done for the support of 
the government. A change of some kind had to be made, 
or the Union of the States would be broken, and there 
would be thirteen nations instead of one. This was seen 
by all the wise men of the country, — by Washington, Hamil- 
ton, Franklin, and others,— and steps were taken for a con- 
vention of delegates, which met at Philadelphia, in May, 
1787, to try and form a stronger government. 

Among these delegates were many learned and able men. 
For four months they talked over the condition of the 



THE UNITED STATES. 151 

countrv, and considered what had best be done, and at the 
end of tliat time they had formed a phm of ii:overnment 
very well suited to the needs of the country. This plan is 
what we have in the Constitution of the United States, that 
great document which forms the foundation of our govern- 
ment, and which has done much to make the United States 
HO great and strong a nation. 

The New Government. — When the Convention had fin- 
ished its work, what had it done ? Let us see. There were 
still thirteen States, each of which had the right to take 
care of its own affairs ; l)ut they were all combined under 
one general government whicli had much power given to it. 
This government had the right to form and control an army 
and navy, to make treaties with other nation-, and to declare 
war if necessary. It Avas to coin the money of the country, 
to manage the post-offices, to lay taxes on the people, to 
regulate commerce with foreign countries, and to make 
laws for the good of the whole nation. Xo State had any 
longer the poAver to do these things for itself, though each 
could make laws which did not interfere with the rights 
of any other State or of the government of the United 
States.' 

The government was to consist of three bodies : one to 
make the laws, one to decide if they agreed with the Con- 
stitution, and one to see that they were put into effect. The 
first of these — the law-making body — is called the Congress 
of the United States. It is divided into two parts, — the 
House of Representatives, whose members are elected by 
the people, and the Senate, whose members are elected by 
the State governments. The first of these is expected to 
look after the good of the whole people ; the second, to at- 
tend to the interests of the States. But the interests of the 
people aud of tlie States are very much the same, and there 



152 ^N ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

is little difference between the duties of the Senate and those 
of the House of Representatives. 

The second body of the g'overnnient is called the Supreme 
Court. It is made up of a nundxu" of learned judii^es, whose 
duty it is to examine, if necessary, all the laws passed in the 
country, and decide if they agree with the Constitution. 
If they do not agree they cease to he laws. Every law, 
either of Congress or of the States, nnist agree Avith the 
Constitution of the United States. 

The third body of the government consists of a President, 
with a Vice-President to take his place if he should die, and 
certain oiRcers known as cabinet officers, with Avhom he can 
consult. It is the duty of the President to execute, or put 
into force, the laws passed by Congress. If he does not 
approve of these acts of Congress he can veto them, or refuse 
to sign them. They cannot become laws if he does not 
sio'u them, unless two-thirds of the members of Congress 
vote for them again. The President takes the place of the 
kings and emperors of foreign countries, but he has less 
power than some of them. He can only carry out the laws. 
He has nothing to do with making them, except that he 
need not sign any law which he does not like. 

Washington as President. — As soon as the Constitution 
was formed and adopted by the States a President had to be 
chosen. Washington was the only man thought of for this 
high office. He became President in 1789. It was decided 
that ]^ew York should be the seat of government, and Con- 
gress was asked to meet there on tlie 4th of March of that 
year. 

There was much to be done. There was a heavy debt to 
be paid, many laws to be passed, courts to be set up, taxes 
to be laid, and the people had to gain coniidence in the gov- 
ernment before business could go on properly. All this was 



THE UNITED STATES. 



done, evcrjljody went to work, and it was not long l>efore 
America was richer and happier than it had ever heen before. 
There were troubles, it is true. A tax had been laid on 
whiskey, and a mob in AVestern Pennsylvania refused to 











^"Se^sr-- 



THE CAPITOL AT WASHINGTON AND CAR- 
PENTEKS' MALL, PHILADELPHIA, WHERE 
THE FIRST COLONIAL CONGRESS MET. 



pay it. l>ut Washington 
called out an army, and 
taught them that the gov- 
ernment intended to carry 
out its laws. There were 
difficulties also Avith Eno;- 
and, Spain, and France, 
but they were all settled 
Avithout going to war. 
Washington was President for eight years. The seat of 
government was removed from Xew Y(;rk to Philadelphia 



154 ^^ ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

ill 1790, and to the new city of Wasliington in 1800. The 
people of the old States were now moving rapidly to the 
West. They no longer felt it necessary to keep near to the 
sea-coast, and they drove back the Indians as they wont, 
and settled in the country west of the mountains. 

Vermont, Kentucky, and Tennessee soon became States. 
The settlers in Ohio had great trouble with the Indians, 
and much lighting took place ; but the hostile tril)es were at 
last defeated by General Wayne, and after that they con- 
tinued peaceful for many years. 

Adams and Jefferson. — In 1797, John Adams was made 
President. At that time the people had become divided 
into two political parties, called Republicans and Federalists. 
Thomas Jefferson, the writer of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, was the leader of the Republicans, or the Dem- 
ocrats as they were afterwards called, and was elected 
President in 1801. He held the office for eight 3'ears. The 
principal difference between these parties was that the Fed- 
eralists wanted a strong central government and the Repub- 
licans were afraid that too much power would be taken 
from the States. 

Louisiana purchased. — After 1800 the country became 
very prosperous. Commerce grew quite active, and so much 
money came in to the government that the debt was rapidly 
being paid. Up to this time the United States only 
extended as far as the Mississippi River. The great country 
west of that river belonged to Spain. In 1800, Napoleon 
gained this immense territory from Spain for France. But 
he was at war with England and was afraid it would be taken 
from him, so he sold it to the United States in 1803 for fifteen 
million dollars. Since that time the United States has ex- 
tended as far west as the Pacific Ocean. The land bought 
by Jefferson has increased wonderfully in value since then. 



THE UNITED STATES. 155 

II.— THE SECOXD WAK WITH GREAT BRITAIN. 

Interference -with American Commerce. — America had 
many vessels on the ocean, and certain nations of Europe 
thought they could interfere with these as much as they 
pleased. France and England were at war, and both of them 
meddled with American commerce, which had become very 
great on account of the wars in Europe. In fact, the coun- 
try came very near going to war with France. An army 
was raised and vessels were sent to sea, where some fiofhtins: 
took jilace \^'ith French ships of war. But the matter was 
settled and the two countries became friends again. 

"War with TripoLL. — The next difficulty was with Tripoli, a 
country in the north of Africa. The people of this country 
were not civilized, and many of them were pirates, who 
spent their tiuie in capturing the vessels of other nations. 
Merchant ships and their cargoes were taken by the pirates 
and all on board were sold as slaves. Some of the nations 
of Europe paid these pirates to let their ships alone. The 
United States did so too for a while, but when Jefferson 
became President he decided that this payment must stop. 
So a fleet of war vessels was sent out to punish the pirates. 

One of these war ships, the Philadelphia, ran aground 
and was seized by the Tripolitans. A brave young officer. 
Lieutenant Decatur, determined that they should not keep 
her : so he sailed into the harbor in a little vessel with some 
American sailors, most of whom were hidden from sight. 
The people on the frigate thought it was one of their own 
vessels, till it ran against the Philadelphia, when the sailors 
sprang on board, attacked the pirates, drove them into the 
sea, and set the frigate on fire, as she was still aground and 
could not be moved. Then the gallant Decatur sailed away 
without heed to the cannon-balls which all the forts were 



156 A^ ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

firing at him. After four years of war the ruler of Tripoli 
was glad to agree to let the merchant vessels of the United 
States alone. 

The Difficulty with England. — But England would not 
let them alone. That country was still at war with France, 
and wanted all the men she could get for her army and navy. 
So she claimed the right to stop any American vessel at sea 
and take from it every man who had been born in England. 
And in doing this a good many were taken who had not 
been born in England, but were true Americans. 

This was not all. England said that the ships of no for- 
eign nation should trade with France, and France said the 
same for England. The United States had a large trade with 
both countries, for it carried goods for both while they were 
at war. Many American vessels were taken, and this coun- 
try was almost as bad oiF as if it had been at war itself, 
while its commerce was nearly ruined. 

To put a stop to this state of affairs Congress passed what 
was called the Embargo Act, which forbade any American 
ships to leave port with goods for foreign countries. It was 
thought that this w^ould so injure France and England, who 
needed American goods, that they would consent to let our 
vessels alone. It did injure them, but it injured the United 
States still more. Xo ocean business at all was now done. 
The people of the country at length became so dissatisfied 
and angry that war was declared against England, which had 
continued to stop our vessels on the ocean and take men 
from them. British agents had also gone among the Indians 
of the Korth-west and incited them to take up arms against 
the Americans. An Indian war took place, in which Te- 
cumseh,the Indian chief, was defeated by General Harrison. 
All this made the Americans very bitter against England, 
and they decided to fight again for their rights. 



THE UNITED STATES. 157 

The Character of the War. — Tlie war that followed Avas 
not so interesting nor so important as the war of the Revo- 
lution. There was nothing of much value gained by either 
party, while both of them lost much. England lost far more 
than she had gained by robbing our merchant vessels, and 
America met with some severe losses. But when a great 
nation like England acts like a pirate, and begins to rob the 
vessels of another nation of men and goods, war becomes 
necessary, ^o people of any spirit would long bear such 
treatment. The United States had endured it for years 
because it felt too poor and weak to combat with England, 
which was one of the richest and strongest countries of 
Europe. The Embargo Act and other means had been tried, 
and when they were found useless war was declared. 

The Seat of "War. — James Madison was now President. 
He had taken his seat in 1809 and remained President for 
eight years. The war began in 1812 and lasted to the end 
of 1814. It was fought in America and on the ocean. The 
United States did not send any soldiers to England. It 
had no ships and no trained troops for this purpose. But an 
effort was made to take Canada from England, and the 
greater part of the war took place along tlie line between 
the United States and Canada. 

The Strength of the two Nations.— The United States 
was much stronger than it had been at the time of the 
Revolution. There were now more than seven millions of 
people in the country ; but there were no trained soldiers 
and few able officers, while England had a large army and 
many generals of experience. England was also much 
stronger on the ocean. She had a thousand ships of war, 
while America had not more than a dozen, none of them 
very large. Yet all through the war America gained vic- 
tories on the water, while many battles were lost on the land. 

14 



158 ^^^ ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

Perry's Victory. — For over a year armies were sent into 
Canada, but nothing was gained, while the British got pos- 
session of Michigan, and Ohio was in danger. There was a 
British fleet on Lake Erie, and it was feared that they would 
use it to land soldiers on the American shores of that lake. 
^ An active young officer. Captain Oliver Perry, was sent to 
Lake Erie to see what could be done to prevent this. He at 
once went to work to cut down trees, hew them into shape, 
and build ships. In a very short time he had a fleet of small 
vessels, and sailed out to meet the British ships. 

The two fleets met on the 10th of September, 1813. A 
fierce battle followed, in which both sides fought with great 
courage, but the British were beaten and forced to surrender. 
During the fight the ship which Captain Perry commanded 
was shot so full of holes that it was ready to sink. So the 
gallant young officer took his flag and rowed in an open 
boat to another ship. The British vessels fired at him as he 
went, but he escaped unharmed. After the victory he sent 
to General Harrison tliis brief despatch : " We have met 
the enemy, and they are ours." 

American Victories. — As soon as General Harrison re- 
ceived this despatch he marched on the enemy, and came 
up with them on the River Thames, in Canada. Here the 
British were defeated and most of them taken prisoners, 
while Tecumseh, the celebrated Indian chief, was kille« 
This victory drove the British out of Michigan. The neA 
year General Winfield Scott won two victories in Canada, 
and in the same year there was a naval battle on Lake 
Champlain, where the English had a strong fleet. Com- 
modore McDonough commanded the American fleet and 
gained a complete victory. After that the British made no 
eftbrt to invade the United States from Canada. 

The Work of the Navy. — On the ocean the Americans 



THE UNITED STATES. 159 

were victorious in nearly every engagement. The first 
battle was between the American ship Constitution and the 
British ship Guerriere. They fought for two hours, at the 
end of which time the Guerriere was so full of cannon-ball 
holes that she was sinking and had to surrender. This 
victory made a great sensation in Europe and America. 
The British had long been masters of the ocean, and it was 
thought their ships could not be beaten. Before the end 
of the war American ships had gained many more brilliant 
victories over the war vessels of Great Britain. They had 
shown to the world that England was no longer " mistress 
of the seas." 

The Burning of "Washing-ton. — In 1814 the British army 
did a disgraceful deed. There was a fleet which had done 
much damage along the coast, and this sailed up Chesapeake 
Bay and landed an army which marched on Washington. 
The city was very poorly defended, and the British took 
possession of it. They burned the Capitol and other public 
buildings, and many private houses, and then marched out 
again. This has always been looked on as a shameful act. The 
same fleet made an attack on Baltimore, but was driven oft'. 

The Battle of Kew Orleans. — The success of the British 
at Washington was followed by a defeat at [N'ew Orleans. 
A strong force was landed and marched on this city, which 
there was no American army to defend. But there was a 
brave and skilful ofiicer. General Andrew^ Jackson, and he 
soon raised himself an army. He had been fighting with 
the Creek Indians in Alabama, who had made war on the 
whites. These savages he completely defeated. When he 
saw what the British intended he collected all the men he 
could. ]Most of them had never seen a battle, but they all 
knew how to use a rifle, and many of them were old hunters 
and skilful marksmen. 



160 



AN ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 



Both armies built breastworks. Those of the British 
were made of sugar hogsheads, and those of the Americans 
of cotton bales. But these were soon battered down and 
set on fire by the cannon-shot, and then Jackson built earth- 
works out of the black mud of the river bank. For some 








BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS. 



time they fought at a distance with cannon, and then the 
British determined to take the American works by storm. 

They had a large army of veteran soldiers, while the 
Americans were militia; but these backwoods riflemen 
wasted no bullets. Every time that a rifle was fired an 
enemy fell ; and they were well protected by their mud 
walls. On the 8th of January, 1815, the British advanced 



THE UNITED STATES. 161 

to the attack. They came on boldly, but could not stand 
the terril)le iire of the American riflemen and soon fell 
back. Again they adyanced, and once more they fell dead 
by hundreds. This was enough. The battle had lasted 
only half an hour before the British army was in full re- 
treat, haying lost its commander, General Pakenham, and 
more than two thousand men, while only eight of the 
Americans were killed. 

The Treaty of Peace. — The war was at an end before 
this battle was fought, though the armies at Xew Orleans 
did not know it. A treaty of peace had been signed ; but 
those were not the days of railroads and telegraphs, and it 
took as many weeks then as it does seconds now to get news 
from Xew York to Xew Orleans. So those two thousand 
men lost their liyes for nothing. 

The Necessity for Peace. — The war did not end any too 
soon. There was nothing to light for any longer, and 
America was suffering greatly. England had ended the 
war which had been kept up for many years with France, 
and wanted no more sailors or goods from American ships. 
There was an immense army, a great fleet, and abundance 
of money to use against America. America was poor and 
in debt. Her trade was gone, and heayy taxes were laid on 
the people. Some of the States refused to supply any more 
men and money for a war which there was no lono-er any 
use for. So a treaty of peace was made with the English 
goyernment. 

Industry re-established. — AVhen the news of the treaty 
reached America the whole country was glad. " Peace ! 
peace!" was the shout in the streets. Some of the cities 
Ayere illuminated. At once business started up. Before 
night of that day shipwrights were at work on the merchant 
ships, making them ready for sea. Sailors were engaged, 

14* 



162 AN ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

cargoes loaded, and very soon American sails were spread 
again upon the seas, wliile at home the joyful soldiers 
dropped the sword and the musket and seized the plough- 
handle and the hammer, and the cheerful sounds of industry 
were heard once more throughout the land. 



III.— AFTER THE WAR. 

The Barbary States. — After the war affairs in America 
went on very quietly for many years. There was some more 
trouble with the pirates of Northern Africa, who again 
interfered with American commerce. But Commodore 
Decatur, the brave sailor who had burnt the Philadelphia, 
went out with a fleet and very soon frightened the piratical 
states. These were the countries of Algiers, Tunis, and 
Tripoli, known as the Barbary States. They have never 
interfered with American vessels since that time. 

Business Activity. — Business grew active again as soon 
as the war was at an end. The farmers sold their crops for 
good prices, the ships found plenty to do, and every one was 
busy except mechanics. During the war many factories had 
been built in America, but after the treaty of peace English 
goods were sent to this country in great quantities, and sold 
so low that the American factories had to sell at a loss or 
else stop working. This set people to talking about a tariif, 
or a tax on foreign goods, so that they could not be sold 
lower than American goods. 

The Era of Good Feeling*. — After the war the political dis- 
putes in America died away, and soon there was but one 
political party. People no longer voted for the old Federal 
party, and only the Republican party was left. This party 
Avas now generally called the Democratic. The period that 
followed has been called " the era of good feeling," because 



THE UNITED STATES. 1(33 

there was but the one party, and all the people thought very 
much the same Avay in politics. James Monroe was elected 
President in 1816, and held the office for the eight years 
from 1817 to 1825. 

War with Florida. — AYliile Monroe was President there 
were some troubles with the Indians of Florida, and these 
led to very important results. Florida still belonged to 
Spain, and the Spaniards stirred up the Seminole Indians to 
make war on Georgia and Alabama. General Jackson then 
commanded the army in the South. He was of a hasty 
temper, and he quickly marched his men into Florida and 
took possession of the Spanish town of Pensacola. He also 
hung two Englishmen who he said led the Indians. Jack- 
son was blamed for this, but Spain saw 
that she could not keep Florida, so she 
asked the United States to buy it. The 
price asked for it was five million dollars. 
The United States was glad to pay this 
sum, and became owner of Florida in 
1821. 

New States admitted. — The country 
along the Mississippi was now filling up 
with people, and seven new States were 
formed between 1812 and 1821. These were Louisiana, 
Indiana, Mississippi, Illinois, Alabama, Maine, and Missouri. 
Ohio had become a State in 1802. These, with the thirteen 
original States, and Vermont, Tennessee, and Kentucky,' 
which had been admitted before 1800, made the total 
number twenty-four. 

There was a dispute in Congress when Missouri asked to 
be made a State. This dispute was on the question of 
slavery. As this was to become a very important question 
in later years we must say something about it here. In the 




ANDREW JACKSON. 



Ig4 ^^ ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

early days of America there were slaves in all the colonies; 
but in 1820 very few slaves were left in the States north of 
Virginia. They were still kept in the South on account of 
their use in the cotton, rice, and tobacco plantations; but 
a law was passed in 1787 that there should be no slaves in 
the territory north of the Ohio. 

The Missouri Comproinise. — When Missouri asked to be 
made a State there were many slaves there already, and a 
debate arose whether it should be a slave or a free State. 
This was settled by what is called " The Missouri Compro- 
mise." A law was passed which said that Missouri might 
come into the Union as a slave State, but that there should 
be no more slave States in the Western country farther 
north than the southern boundary of Missouri. This set- 
tled all trouble about slave States for twenty-five years. 

Internal Improvements. — As the country was filling up 
so fast with people, something had to be done to make it 
easier to travel and carry goods from one place to another. 
There were steamboats on the rivers, but there were no 
railroads, and the carriage roads were very bad. So Con- 
gress began to make good roads in different directions. 
Canals were also made to carry goods cheaply. The great- 
est of these was the Erie Canal, of E'ew York. This was 
begun in 1817 and finished in 1825. It runs across the 
State from Albany to Buftalo, and is of great use in bring- 
ing goods and grain from the West to the Hudson River. 

The Tariff Question. — One more great question arose in 
Congress during this time. This was about a tarifi" on 
foreign goods. Americans were trying to start factories 
and workshops, and to make articles for their own use ; but 
they had to pay high wages to mechanics, and found that 
they could not sell as low as the English. Therefore the 
manufacturers of the North asked Congress to lay a tax or 



THE UNITED STATES. 165 

duty on foreign goods, so that they could not be sold lower 
than the American. The South did not want this. They 
did not manufacture much, and thought it would be better 
for them to exchange their cotton for the cheap goods of 
England, rather than for the high-priced goods of the ^orth. 

Thus there were two sides to the question, but the tariif 
party was the stronger, and passed a law in 1816 laying a 
tax or duty on manufactured foreign goods, to protect tlie 
American manufacturers. It proved very useful, and the 
workshops of America quickly became busy, and have 
continued so from that time to the present. But the ques- 
tion of the tariff has never been settled to please all parties, 
and it is the greatest political question of the present day. 

"Whig-s and Democrats. — In 1824, John Quincy Adams 
was elected President by the party which was then known 
by the two names of Republican and Demc^cratic. There 
was no other party at that time. The Iiepul)lican party of 
to-day was formed long afterwards. But while Adams was 
President the one party became divided into two, which 
were afterwards known as the Democratic and the Whig 
parties. It was the tariff" and some other questions that 
divided the old party. The Whigs were in favor of high 
tariff and the Democrats of low tariff; the Whigs being 
strongest in the Xorth, where there were most factories, and 
the Democrats in the South, where low-priced goods were 
wanted. 

IV._THE PROGRESS OF THE COUNTRY. 

We have now told the story of what took place in the 
political world of America during the fifty years from 
1780 to 1830. But many other things were being done 
during that period. The people were growing more numer- 
ous ; they were gaining new ideas and customs ; new ways 



lg(3 ^A' ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

of doing things were coming into use ; and much was being 
done that does not belong to political history, but which, for 
all that, is of great importance. It is now our purpose to 
tell something about life and industry in America during 
these fifty years. 

Growth of Population. — The first census of the United 
States was taken in 1790 ; that is to say, the number of 
people were counted, and it was found that there Avere nearly 
four millions of inhabitants. In 1830 there Avere nearly 
thirteen millions, — more than three times as many. This 
great increase of people had done much to fill up the new 




THE HOME OF THE PIONEER. 



States in the West. In 1780 the great West was still a wil- 
derness. Daniel Boone had led some settlers into Kentucky 
and others had gone to Tennessee, but elsewhere the people 
had not moved far back from the ocean. There were great 
hardships to be borne by those who went West, and much 
danger from the Indians, and those who loved comfort and 
safety kept in the old settlements along the coast. 

The Pioneers of the North. — But there were many who 
loved adventure more than they did peace and comfort, and 
hundreds of these went out as pioneers into the wilderness. 
In the region of New England and New York these trav- 



THE UNITED STATES. Ig7 

elled with emigrant wagons, making roads through the 
woods as they went. They would clear oft* the trees and 
cultivate a piece of land for a year or two, and then, as 
others settled near them, they would set out again for a new 
home in the wilderness. It was like a great army slowly 
marching forward and sending pioneers in advance, while 
the main body held on to every foot of land that was oc- 
cupied. The Indians retreated step by step before them. 
They could not repel this army of emigrants. 

Emigration along- the Ohio. — Along the Ohio the emi- 
grants went in a different way. They loaded their goods 
and families on boats and floated down the river till they 
found a good place to settle. It was a dangerous journey. 
The Indians would lire on them from the woods on the river 
banks, and many were killed or captured. Afterwards the 
boats Avere made stronger so that bullets would not pass 
through them, and in some cases they carried small cannon 
to drive off the fo:\ But for many years the journey down 
the Ohio was a dangerous one. 

But no dangers could keep back the people, and they 
made many settlements along the Ohio River. The first 
houses were built at Cincinnati in 1788, a little more than 
one hundred years ago. The Indians fought with the set- 
tlers, but they were driven back, and soon there were great 
numbers of people along the Ohio and Mississippi, and 
States began to be formed where not many years before 
all had been a wilderness, the home of the red man and of 
Avild beasts. 

How People lived. — In those days things were very dif- 
ferent from what they are now, even in the largest cities. 
The streets were dirty and poorly paved, while at night they 
were lighted only by a few oil lamps. There were no gas 
and no matches such as we have now, but a piece of flint 



168 



AN ELEMENTARF HISTORY OF 



and steel and some tinder were used to make a light. Water 
had to be carried from the pump, and wood was used for 
fires, so that houses were not warmed all through as they 
now are. 

Most of the people lived on farms, for there were fewer 




workshops to brins; 
them into the cities. 
Life on the farm \n as 
\erv hard. There 
were none of the 
excellent machines 
A\hich farmers have 
now, and the work 
required great labor, 
A\liile mo^t of the 
things that were used 
had to be made at 
home. There Avere 
very few amusements 
in the country, and hardly any books and newspapers, and 
little time for anything except hard work. 

In the houses there were still great open fireplaces, where 
logs of Avood were burned. Tallow candles Avere used to 
light the rooms, AAdiile most of the people Avore clothes of 
homespun, — that is, of cloth made at home of thread span 



OLD FARM-HOUSE AND INTERIOR. 



THE UNITED STATES. 169 

on the spinning-wheel and woven on the hand-loom. Hunt- 
ing and fishing were the principal amusements of the men, 
and the gun and the fishing-rod could be seen in every 
house. 

Customs of the Rich. — But the rich people in the cities 
lived much better than the farmers and made a great deal 
more show. This class of people dressed more splendidly 
than they do now. The gentlemen wore white satin vests 
and white silk stockings, with velvet or broadcloth coats ; 
while the ladies wore beautiful silks and satins, and had 
their hair dressed with powder and pomatum and raised 
like a tower above the head. All gentlemen took snufii", and 
to oifer the snuff-box was considered a necessary act of 
politeness. 

Fine balls were given at which there was much formality, 
and also musical concerts, but the theatre had made no great 
progress. There w^ere much pomp and show at President 
Washington's receptions : the kings of Europe made little 
more display. But this came to an end after Jefierson be- 
came President. He dressed plainly and did away with all 
ceremony. 

The Cotton-Gin. — There was one thing that happened at 
this time of which we must speak. Among the plants 
which had been found growing in the Southern colonies was 
the cotton-plant. This plant has its seeds covered with a 
fine white down, or fibre, which can be spun into thread and 
made into cloth. Cotton grew in other parts of the world 
and was used for this purpose. The people of the South 
raised some of it, but it took so much time and trouble to 
get the seeds out of the cotton that they could not make it 
pay. 

In 1792 a young man from Massachusetts, named Eli 
Whitney, went to Georgia to teach while he studied law. 
H 15 



170 



AN ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 



One day he was asked if he could not make a macliine that 
would separate the seed from the iibre. He began to experi- 
ment, and soon invented a machine which did this work 
very well. It was called the cotton-gin. It worked so well 




A MODERN STEAMSHIP. 



that it was soon in use 
wherever the plant Avas 
raised, and before many 
years the cultivation of 
cotton became a great in- 
dustry. American cotton 
was used in all parts of 
the civilized world, and 
the South grew very rich 

from the vast quantities of this useful product that w^ere 

raised and sold. 

The Steamboat invented. — Other inventions Avere made, 

one of the most important being the steamboat. Several 




JOHN FITCH S STEAMBOAT. 



THE UNITED STATES. 171 

persons tried this. There was one built by James Rumsey 
in 1784, and another afterwards by John Fitch. But these 
were of Uttle use, and the lirst useful steamboat was built 
by Robert Fulton in 1807. This was tried on the Hudson, 
and when people saw it moving at five miles an hour against 
wind and tide they knew that a great invention had been 
made. As it went up the river to Albany the sailors on 
other vessels were scared to see this monster sending clouds 
of smoke and showers of sparks into the air, and making 
a great noise with its paddles and machinery. Some of 
them hid below the deck, and others fell on their knees 
and prayed for safety. But before long steamboats were 
running on all the rivers and proved of the greatest use. 

Before the time of steamboats it was not easy to travel on 
the Western rivers. Boats would float down them all the 
way to ^ew Orleans, but it was hard work to row them 
back against the strong current. So they were broken up 
and sold for lumber, and- the sailors walked or rode back 
along the river bank. But after steamboats were put on 
the rivers there was no trouble in moving up as well as 
down. In 1819 the first steamship crossed the Atlantic. It 
was named the Savannah. 

The Railroad introduced. — There was another great in- 
vention soon to come into use. This was the railroad. The 
first railroad in America is said to have been one built in 
1827 at Quincy, Massachusetts. It was only three miles 
long, and the cars were drawn by horses, and carried stone 
from the quarries to the wharves. But about this time the 
locomotive was invented in England by George Stephenson. 
In 1828 the locomotive was tried in America. Farmers did 
not like it at first. They thought it would scare their 
animals, and that the wool of the sheep would be made 
black by the smoke, so that it could not be sold. But none 



172 -4iV ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

of these things happened, and soon raih^oads were being 
built in various directions, l^othing else has done so much 
to make a great country of America. 

La Payette visits America. — In 1824, La Fayette came 
to America. He was a French nobleman who had fought 
for the Americans during the Revolution, and was much 
liked by General Washington. He was now sixty-eight 
years old. He found a Avonderful change in the country. 
When he had been here before there was only a thin line 
of settlements along the Atlantic coast, ^ow he would 
have had to travel a thousand miles from the ocean to visit 
all the States. He was received with joyful greetings by all 
the people, and wherever he went there were parades and 
processions. When he was ready to go home he was sent 
in a war vessel named the Brandy wine, and with a present 
of two hundred thousand dollars in money. There was 
also given him a township of the public lands. 

A Period of Prosperity. — After the war with Great 
Britain the country found itself in a state of great poverty 
and with a heavy debt to pay. But for a while business 
was so good that there was soon more riches in the country 
than there had been before. Tobacco and cotton sold at 
high prices; the ships had plenty to do, and soon gold 
watches began to take the place of silver, silk goods took 
the place of cotton, better furniture was seen in the houses, 
and people lived in more comfort than of old. Up to this 
time only wood, or soft coal, had been burned. The hard 
coal, or anthracite coal, of Pennsylvania was discovered in 
1791, but it was long before people learned how to burn it, 
and it was not generally used before 1830. Since then it 
has made our houses much more comfortable. Gas was- 
first used for lighting in 1822, and soon became common. 
It proved a very useful invention. 



THE UNITED STATES. 173 

The First Panic. — The prosperous times of which we 
have spoken did not last. A few years after the war busi- 
ness fell into a very bad state. The banks refused to pay 
out any money, no gold or silver was to be had, and hun- 
dreds of persons became poor. It was the first business 
panic of the country, and for several years the people were 
in great distress. After that time business grew better and 
things went on again as before. 



PART V-QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. 

I. What was the condition of the people after the Kcvolution ? What 
was done in Massachusetts ? In what way were the people well off? What 
was thought of Washington ? What did he do ? Did Congress have much 
power? Why not? What needed to be done? When and where did the 
Constitutional Convention meet ? What great document did it prepare ? 
What were to be the powers of the new government ? Of what three bodies 
was it composed ? Of what two bodies is Congress made up ? What are the 
duties of these? What is the duty of the Supreme Court? What is the 
duty of the President? What power has he? Who was the first President, 
and when elected? What city was made the seat of government? What 
troubles took place in Western Pennsylvania ? To what place was the seat 
of government removed in 1790? Where in 1800? What three States 
were formed about this time ? What took place in Ohio ? Who was the 
second President ? Who the third ? What two parties were there ? What 
was the difference between them ? What great purchase was made in 1803 ? 
How far did the United States extend before that time ? How far after? 

II. How did France and England deal with American commerce? What 
difficulty arose with France ? AVhat was the character of the people of 
Tripoli ? How did they act towards American commerce ? What did Presi- 
dent Jefterson do ? Describe the fate of the frigate Philadelphia. How did 
the trouble end ? What claim was made by England ? How did the French 
and English war affect American trade ? What act was passed by Congress ? 
W^hat was its purpose? What country did it hurt most? What took 
place among the Western Indians? In what did the dispute end? Who 
was President during the war ? When did it begin and how long did it last? 
Where did the principal fighting take place? What was the population of 
the country at this time ? How did the American preparation for war cora- 

15* 



174 ^^ ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

pare with that of Enghnid? What American officer was sent to Lake 
Erie? What did he do ? What was the result of the battle of Lake Erie? 
What other victories did the Americans win ? Between what ships was the 
first naval battle ? W^hat success had the Americans on the ocean ? What 
city did the British attack in 1814 ? What did they do there? What other 
city did they attack? Who commanded the Americans at New Orleans? 
What kind of soldiers had he? What was the result of the British attack? 
Why was it important to end the war ? What effect had the treaty of peace 
on the people ? 

in. What took place in Northern Africa? What effect did peace have 
on business ? How did it affect manufactures ? What did this set people 
to talking about? What happened to the political parties? Why was 
this period called "the era of good feeling" ? Who became President in 
1817 ? What war took place during his Presidency ? W^hat was the result 
of the war ? How many States were there in 1821? What dispute arose 
when Missouri asked to be made a State? Why were slaves kept in the 
South after they were set free in the North ? AVhat was the " Missouri Com- 
promise" ? What did Congress do to make travelling easier ? What great 
work of public improvement was done in New York? What important 
question now arose in Congress ? Why was a tariff' wanted ? Why did not 
the South want it ? What effect did the tariff have ? Who was elected 
President in 1824 ? What new parties arose while he was President? What 
questions divided the people ? What did the Whigs want, and where were 
they strongest? What the Democrats, and where were they strongest? 

IV. When was the first census of the United States taken ? What was 
the population ? What increase had taken place by 1830? What was the 
condition of the Western country in 1780 ? How was emigration westward 
conducted in New York and New England ? How along the Ohio ? When 
were the first houses built in Cincinnati ? What was the condition of the 
cities in those days ? How were the}^ lighted ? How did people strike a 
light? How were houses warmed? Where did most of the people live? 
What was the character of farm-life ? What kind of clothes were worn ? 
What amusements did the people have ? How did the rich people in the 
cities dress ? What was considered an act of politeness ? What were Presi- 
dent Washington's receptions like? What President did away with cere- 
mony? What was the most important Southern plant? Why so? What 
trouble was had with it ? Who invented the " cotton-gin" ? For what pur- 
pose ? What effect did it have on the South ? Who invented the first useful 
steamboat? How fast did it go? How were sailors affected on seeing it? 
How did people travel on the AVestern rivers before steamboats were used? 
When did the first steamship cross the Atlantic? What was its name? 



THE UNITED STATES. 175 

When and where was the first railroad built in America? How were the 
cars drawn ? Who invented the locomotive? W^hen was it first tried in 
America? What did the farmers think it would do? Were they correct ? 
Who was La Fayette ? When did he visit America ? What changes did 
he find ? How was he received ? How was business after the war with Great 
Britain? What improvements did the people make? When was anthracite 
coal first discovered in Pennsjdvania ? When did it come into general use ? 
When was gas first used for lighting? When did the first business panic 
take place ? What effect did it have ? 



176 ^^ ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 



PART VL 

TWENTY YEARS OF PROGRESS. 
L— THE TARIFF TROUBLES AND THE PANIC. 

Andrew Jackson as President. — General Andrew Jack- 
son became President in 1829. He was a very popular 
man, for the people did not forget how well he had fought 
at ^ew Orleans ; so he was President for eight years, from 
1829 to 1837. Yet he was a man without education, and 
was rough in his manners and obstinate in his opinions. 
What he thought it right to do he did, without asking any- 
body or caring for anybody's opinion. But men who act in 
that way are apt to make mischief, for it takes more than 
one to tell what it is best to do when great questions arise. 

The South Carolina Trouble. — The first difiiculty that 
arose was about the tariff. The people of South Carolina 
did not like the tariff, and they passed a law saying that 
foreign goods should come into that State without paying 
duties. This was against the Constitution, which said that 
only Congress should pass laws of that kind. But the law- 
makers of South Carolina declared that if Congress inter- 
fered with what had been done the State would not remain 
in the Union, but would be made a separate nation. 

President Jackson was a Democrat, and therefore belonged 
to the party that was in favor of low tariff'. But it was his 
duty to carry out the laws, and this he determined to do. 
He said that South Carolina should pay the duties, and sent 



THE UNITED STATES. I77 

war ships to Charleston to make the people obey the laws. 
Everybody knew that Jackson meant what he said, and that 
he would force the State to remain in the Union and to obey 
the laws made by Congress, if he had to do it Avith an army. 

But about this time Congress passed a law to lower the 
tariff, a part of which was to be taken oif every year for ten 
years. This settled the trouble. South Carolina withdrew 
her " Ordinance of Secession," and there was no more talk 
of leaving the Union. 

The Bank Question. — The next great question was about 
the United States Bank. This bank had been started in 
1816, and Avas to continue for twenty years. Its charter 
would run out in 1836, and Congress was asked for a new 
one. A bill was passed to give it a charter, but the Presi- 
dent would not sign it, so it did not become a laAV. He 
also took away the goA^ernment money from the bank. 
This proA^ed to be a serious matter, and helped to bring the 
country into great troubles. AVlien it Avas found that the 
United States Bank must stop. State banks started up all over 
the country, and these lent money freely to speculators. But 
this Avas only paper money, and the banks had A^ery little 
gold and sih^er to make it good. 

The Panic of 1837. — At that time there AA^as much specu- 
lation in Western lands, and much also in foreign goods. 
Business was brisk, and every one thought the country was 
prosperous. But nearly all this business was done on the 
paper money of the State banks and on credit. It all ended 
in one of the greatest panics in business the country has 
eA^er knoAvn. The President said that gold and silver must 
be paid for the Western lands, and this brought on the panic. 
All over the States the banks stopped payment of coin, 
merchants Avere ruined, factories closed, and business came 
nearly to an end. There Avere failures for millions of 



178 ^^ ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

dollars, and many thousands of people could get no work 
to do and little food to eat. This began in 1837 and con- 
tinued for a year, but it was several years before the effects 
of it were over. 

Harrison elected President. — A new President had been 
elected in 1836, and began his term in 1837. This was 
Martin Van Buren. He was a Democrat; but by the time 
of the next election, in 1840, the business troubles had 
changed the opinions of many of the people, and General 
Harrison, a Whig candidate, was elected President. But lie 
lived only one month after taking his seat as President, and 
the Vice-President, John Tjder, took his place. Harrison 
was the first President to die in office. 

Indian Wars. — AVe must now go back and tell of some 
Indian wars that took place while Jackson was President. 
As the people pushed farther into the country they met new 
tribes of Indians. These Avere often treated very unjustly 
by the white settlers, many of whom were rough and brutal 
men. The Indians took up arms to defend themselves, and 
then war began. 

One of these wars broke out in 1832, in the North-west. 
It was with the Sac and Fox Indians, who were led by a 
chief named Black Hawk. There was some hard fighting 
before they were put down. 

A much more serious war was with the Seminole Indians 
of Florida. This war began in 1835, and continued for 
about seven years. The Indians hid in the swamps and 
what are called the everglades of Florida, so that the soldiers 
had much trouble to find them. They would rush out and 
do what harm they could and then hurry back to their 
hiding-places. Many soldiers were killed, and it cost the 
United States thirty millions of dollars to put down these 
Indians. Finally they were forced to submit. 



THE UNITED STATES. 179 

A large district of fertile land had been set aside and 
called the Indian Territory. Here the Seminoles were sent, 
and also the Cherokees and other Southern tribes. Several 
iS'orthern tribes have been sent there since. The whites are 
not permitted to interfere with them, and the tribes of the 
Indian Territory are growing- prosperous and civilized. 

John Tyler as President. — After the death of General 
Harrison the Vice-President, John Tyler, became President, 
as we have said. He did not please the party that elected 
him, as he vetoed several bills which they wished to pass. 
One of these bills was to establish a national bank, like 
that wdiich President Jackson had brought to an end. 

The Freedom of Texas. — The most important affair which 
occurred while Tyler was President was the request of Texas 
to be made a part of the United States. Texas had been 
held by Spain since the time La Salle's colony was destroyed 
by the Spaniards. When Mexico gained its freedom from 
Spain, Texas became part of it. But many Americans had 
settled in Texas, and they did not like the way in which they 
were treated by the Mexican government. So they rebelled 
and began a war for freedom. 

This war began in 1835, and in 1836 the Mexicans were 
defeated and forced to leave the country. Texas became in- 
dependent. But after some years it asked to be made a part 
of the United States. The Northern people were opposed to 
this, for they knew that it would be a slave State ; but finally, 
in 1845, it was accepted as a State. This was a large addi- 
tion to the United States, for Texas is an extensive country. 

II.— THE WAK WITH MEXICO. 

The Opening" of the ^War. — The people of Mexico were 
very much dissatisfied to find that Texas had been made part 
of the United States. They claimed that it still belonged to 



IgO AN ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

Mexico. And there was a dispute about the boundary. 
Mexico claimed that the boundary was the Xueces River, 
and Texas that it was the Kio Grande, a hundred miles 
farther west. Both countries sent armies into this disputed 
territory, and as soon as they met they began to light. Two 
battles were fought. The Americans gained the victory in 
both, and the Mexicans had to retreat. 

The Advance into Mexico. — General Taylor was in com- 
mand of the American army. He now crossed the Rio 
Grande and took possession of Matamoras, a Mexican town. 
When the news of this was received there was great ex- 
citement. Many of the people did not want to go to war, 
bat others did, and Congress voted in favor of war. Many 
volunteers joined General Taylor's army, and he marched 
into the country and captured the strong city of Monterey, 
where there were ten thousand Mexican troops. 

The Battle of Buena Vista. — General Taylor pushed on 
into the mountain region. He had only fiYQ thousand men, 
and the Mexican general, Santa Anna, was marching against 
him with more than twenty thousand. They met on Feb- 
ruary 22, 1847, at a place called Buena Arista. General 
Taylor was in great danger, for most of his men were vol- 
unteers, Avhile the Mexicans were trained soldiers. But he 
took possession of a narrow pass through the mountains. 
All day long the Mexicans tried to drive the American army 
out of this pass, but they could not do it, and at night they 
retreated in great haste and disorder. 

The news of this victory was heard with much joy by the 
people of the United States. General Taylor was regarded 
as a great military hero, and the next year he was elected 
President of the United States. During the Mexican war 
James K. Polk was President. He had been elected by the 
Democratic party in 1844, 










J.B.Lippmcott Co. Phi 



THE UNITED STATES. 181 

The Capture of Vera Cruz. — There was no more fighting 
in the north of Mexico. It had been decided to carry the 
war to the south, and General Scott was sent with a fleet 
and army to attack the city of Vera Cruz, the principal sea- 
port of ^lexico. There was a very strong fortress at Vera 
Cruz, but it was soon forced to surrender. The Mexicans 
could not stand the cannon-balls that were poured like hail- 
stones into their fort. 

The March to the City of Mexico. — The road from Vera 
Cruz to the City of Mexico is over a mountainous country, 
and the passes in these mountains were held by the Mexi- 
cans. Their army was much stronger than that of General 
Scott, but he marched on and drove them back wherever 
he met them. When the Americans got near the city there 
were many battles to figlit, but every one of them ended in 
a victory for General Scott's army. 

The most important battle was at Chapultepec. This was 
a strong fort on the top of a very steep hill. The Americans 
had to climb up the hill and get into the fort by ladders, 
Avhile musket- and cannon-balls came down on them like 
hail ; but they fought their way up the hill and got into 
the fort, from which they drove the ^lexicans. 

The next day, September 14, 1847, the Americans con- 
tinued to advance until they reached the City of Mexico, of 
which they took possession. That was the last battle of the 
war, and Santa Anna, the Mexican President, asked for 
peace. 

The War elsewhere. — But this is not the whole story of 
the war. While the fighting we have described Avas taking 
place, an army under General Kearney had marched into 
Kew Mexico and taken possession of it. Captain John C. 
Fremont, with sixty men, was at this time in California. 
He had been sent there to explore the country, but as soon 

16 



182 ^^ ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

as he beard that war was going on he got the American 
settlers to join him, and began to drive out the Mexican 
soldiers. He was helped in this by an American fleet, and 
soon all California was held by the United States. 

New Territory acquired. — At the end of the war the 
American army had fall possession of ]N'ew Mexico and 
California, and when the treaty of peace was signed Mexico 
agreed to give up this territory, for which the United States 
was to pay fifteen million dollars. Thus a great district, 
containing more than half a million square miles, was added 
to the United States. This district contains the States of 
California, ^N'evada, and parts of Colorado and Kansas, with 
the Territories of Arizona, Utah, and Xew Mexico. 

[N'o one dreamed at that time how valuable was this new 
territory. Some thought that the money paid for it was 
more than it was worth. It was thinly settled by Mexicans, 
with a few American settlers. No gold had been found in 
it by the Mexicans, though they had been looking for gold 
for three hundred years. So they did not think the country 
of much value, and were very willing to give it up to the 
United States for the money paid. 

The Discovery of Gold. — But it was not long before they 
Avould have given ten times as much to have it back again ; 
for the Americans had not owned it long before gold was 
found. A workman who was building a mill-dam in the 
Sacramento River found shining yellow particles in the sand. 
He eagerly gathered some of this, took it to his employer, 
had it tested, and proved it to be gold. At once everybody 
quit working and went on the hunt for gold. Plenty of 
it was found, and when the news was heard by the people 
of the East they began to emigrate in great numbers to the 
West, every one eager to make his fortune. 

There was gold in very many parts of the territory. It 



THE rXJTED STATES. Igg 

was found in the sand, in the river-beds, in the rock; in 
dust, and in lumps. It was like a fairy tale, and thousands 
of people hurried to California, eager for gold. Silver 
mines were also discovered, and since that time an immense 
amount of gold and silver has been taken from that country 
which at iirst was thought of so little value. But California 
would be rich if it had no gold or silver. Its soil is very 
fertile, and every year great quantities of grain and fruits 
are raised. The timber on its mountains is also of great 
value. The Mexicans made nothing of it in three hundred 
years, but the Americans have made it a rich and populous 
State in forty years. 

III.— THE WORK OF THE PEOPLE. 

Increase of Territory. — In the period which we have just 
considered the country had made great progress. Let us 
stop here and take a look back at what had been done. 

First, it is important to consider the size of the United 
States. We have told how it had gained a great territory 
from Mexico. But other territory had come to it of which 
we must now tell the story. 

Lewis's and Clark's Expedition. — When France sold the 
country Avest of the Mississippi to the United States no one 
knew how large that country was, or what might be found 
in it. So two men. Captains Lewis and Clark, were sent 
out to see what it was like. There were thirty men vrith 
them, and they left St. Louis in 1803, and were more than 
two years in a wilderness where no white man had ever set 
foot before. They went up the Missouri Eiver as far as they 
could, and then crossed the Eocky Mountains and went down 
the Columbia River till they reached the Pacific Ocean. 
They had Avonderful stories to tell, Avhen they came back, of 
the tribes they had seen and the adventures they had met 



Ig4 -4^ ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

with. They were probahl}^ the first white men who beheld 
the great herds of buffalo of the Western plains. They had 
seen herds of them a mile wide crossing the rivers like a 
great army. 

The Fur Trade. — These explorers found that the Indians 
of the Pacific coast had furs to sell, and a ^New York mer- 
chant, named John Jacob Astor, sent men there to trade for 
furs. He grew very rich in this business. His trading-post 
was afterwards sold to a British fur company, and this gave 
the British possession of the territory about the Columbia 
River. 

This company did all it could to keep Americans out of 
the country. It spread a story that the mountains could not 
be crossed with wagons, and thus made emigrants afraid to 
venture. And it laid plans to bring in a large body of Eng- 
lish settlers. This was done because the United States was 
then making a treaty with England about that western 
country, and the fur company wanted to hold on to Oregon 
if it could. 

Dr. Whitman's Enterprise. — There was an American in 
Oregon named Dr. Whitman. He saw what was being done, 
and determined to go to Washington and try to stop the 
government from giving up that country to England. So 
he started on horseback across the mountains. The journey 
was a terrible one. It was the winter season, and ice and 
snow were everywhere. It took him three months to get to 
Santa Fe. When he reached Washington he found that the 
treaty had been signed, but that Oregon was left out of the 
settlement. So he told the people how valuable Oregon 
was, and that there were easy passes through the mountains, 
and he got many emigrants to go there with him. By the 
end of 1844 there were three thousand Americans in that 
reo^ion. 



THE UXJTED STATES. 185 

The Growth of the Country. — This settled the matter. 
That country could not be given up now. In 1846 a treaty 
was made with England which decided that the country 
which we now know as the States of Oregon and AVashing- 
ton was part of the United States. 

The great republic had made a wonderful growth in fifty 
years. In 1800 the United States was bounded on the west 
by the Mississippi Eiver. and on the south by Florida. It 
did not reach to the Gulf of Mexico, for Florida had a strip 
of land ^fty miles wide along the Gulf coast. By 1850 it 
had gained Florida and the whole vast country between the 
Mississippi River and the Pacific Ocean, together with 
Texas and the whole of Xorthern Mexico. In fifty years it 
had grown to three times its original size, and had become 
one of the greatest countries on the earth. AVe may well 
call this a wonderful progress. 

The population was growing as fast as the country. Many 
steamships now crossed the ocean, and emigrants were 
coming in by thousands. Most of these settled in the East, 
but great numbers of the Eastern people went West. This 
was not difficult to do. Every river had its steamboats, and 
railroads were being built in all parts of the country, so that 
it was becoming an easy matter to travel long distances. 
Xew cities started up in the West. In 1830 there was only 
a fort at Chicago. Xow it is one of the largest cities in the 
country. In other places where there are large cities now 
there was only the wilderness then. 

Emigration West. — But there were no railroads or steam- 
boats to carry emigrants across the Rocky ^lountains to the 
Pacific coast. Those who went there had to travel in 
waofons drawn bv oxen or horses. It was a iournev of s^reat 
hardships and danger. The emigrants were often attacked 
and murdered by the Indians. Sometimes they were 

16^ 



18(3 



AN ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 



smothered in the snows, or died of starviition. The road 
was marked by the hones of dead animals. Yet thousands 
crossed that way, and the Western country ra[)idly filled up. 
It was the desire for gold and silver that took most of 
these emigrants across the mountains. Others went to settle 
on farms or to do business in cities. But some of them 
went for a difierent purpose. These were the Mormons, a 
religious sect which had been started by a man named 




IhVIiai LV>Dbt\PL 



Joseph Smith, who said he had found a book of religious 
teachings written on gold plates that were buried in the 
earth, lie called this the " Book of Mormon." The Mor- 
mons -first settled in the region near the Mississippi River, 
but the people did not like their doings and mobs drove 
them away. So in the end they crossed the mountains and 
settled in the Territory of Utah. They still occupy that 
Territory. 

Increase of Wealth. — The country was now growing very 



II 



THE UNITED STATES. 



187 



rich and populous. In 1830 the population was about 
thirteen million. In 1850 it was over twenty-three million, 
— nearly twice as many. New farming lands were being 
cleared, and workshops and great factories were being built 
in all directions. One could hear the rattle of machinery all 
over the land. America no longer depended on England for 
goods. The greatest variety of goods was made here ; but 




STEAM-TUG WITH LUMBER RAFT. 



much also came across the ocean, and the shops were filled 
with costly articles. 

Among the riches of America must be named the prod- 
ucts of the mines. Pennsylvania brought great quantities 
of coal and iron into the market. In Xew York there were 
mines of salt. Lead mines were worked in Illinois and 
Iowa, and rich copper mines in Michigan. Since that time 



Igg AN ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

tliese substances have been found in other places, while gold 
and silver have been found in many parts of the Rocky 
Mountains. The forests of America are also of very great 
value, and every year immense quantities of timber are cut, 
to be made into ships, houses, furniture, and very many 
other things. 

All this brought much money to the government, and in 
1835 the last of the national debt was paid. The govern- 
ment had more money than it wanted, and gave what it did 
not need to the States. 

Valuable Inventions. — During this period there were 
many inventions, some of which have proved very valuable. 
Among these is the electric telegraph, which is almost as 
important as the railroad. Samuel F. B. Morse was the 
American inventor of this. His first patent was taken out 
in 1837, but people could not be made to believe in the tele- 
graph, and it w^as not tried, except for short distances, till 
1844. Then a line was established from Baltimore to 
Washington. It proved a great success, and there are now 
more than one hundred and seventy-iive thousand miles of 
telegraph in the United States. 

Other inventions of great value were made. One of these 
was the reaping-machine, Avhich has been a very great help 
to farmers. Another was the friction-match. It is so easy 
now to strike a light and make a fire that it seems strange 
how people ever got along without matches. Another great 
invention was that of vulcanized rubber. Before then india- 
rubber was soft and of little use ; but by mixing sulphur 
with it it was made hard and firm, and it came into use for 
a great many purposes. The sewing-machine, which was 
invented in 1846, w^as quite as useful. Before that time all 
sewing had to be done by hand, and the labor was very 
great. Besides these there Avere hundreds of other inven- 



THE UNITED STATES. 



189 



tions, all of which have helped people to live better, and to 
do more work with less labor. 

The Postal Service. — For a long time the government 
had been carrying letters for the people ; but at first very 
few were carried, and these went very slowly. Benjamin 




PROFESSOR S. F. B. MORSE, THE INVENTOR OF THE ELECTRO-MAGNETIC TELEGRAPH. 



Franklin was the first Postmaster-General. The cost of the 
postal service then was great. But the railroads made 
the expense small, while the speed became much greater. 
Before 1850 it had cost ten cents to send a letter from Phila- 
delphia to Boston. In 1863 the price was lowered to three 
cents for all parts of the country, and there Avas a very great 



190 ^^ ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

increase in the number of letters sent. In 1883 postage 
was reduced to two cents. There are thousands of letters 
sent to-day for every one that was sent a hundred years 
ago. 

The Prisons. — In old times the prisons were very badly 
managed and those confined in them were treated cruelly. 
Most of the States whipped their prisoners and ill treated 
them in other ways. One State kept its criminals in an old 
copper mine. Men were still sent to prison for debt. All 
this is now done away with, and prisoners in most of the 
States are well treated. They are made to Avork, but they 
have clean and healthful rooms and good food. 

Education. — Education had also very much improved. 
Public schools had been established in nearly all the States, 
and many more of the people were educated than in the 
past. But the methods of teaching and the school-books 
used were still poor, and they have been improving ever 
since. In the early days of the country there had been 
little time for study or amusement; most of the time was 
taken to make a living. But now people had more time to 
themselves, and more money, and they paid much more 
attention to public affiiirs and to education. 

The Temperance Reform. — A great work was being done 
by the temperance societies. In former times nothing was 
thought of seeing people drunk, and even church people 
would drink strong liquors. Rum and whiskey were kept 
in every house and offered to every visitor. But the tem- 
perance societies l)egan to teach the people that this was 
wrong, and lecturers were sent to all parts of the country to 
talk about the need of temperance. Many people ceased 
drinking and many more ceased keeping liquor in their 
houses. It became a disgrace to be seen drunk, and it is 
becoming more and more a disgrace every day. Doctors 



THE UNITED STATES. 



191 



showed that rum killed more people than any disease, and 
that a great part of the sickness, crime, and poverty of the 
country wa^ caused hy intemperance. This had never heen 
shown before, and very many persons signed the j^ledge not 
to drink. 

Newspapers and Books. — This temperance movement 





PRINTING TWELVE THOUSAND DOUBLE 
IMPRESSIONS PER HOUR, AND THE OLD 
EPHRATA PRESS. 



was greatly helped hy other 
things which took the peo- 
ple away from drinking- 
saloons. Most of the people 
had learned how to read, 
and newspapers were now 
published everywhere and 
spread all over the country. 

These papers were much larger and had much more in 

them than those of the past, though they were not as large 

as those we have now. 

Books were also, far more plentiful and much cheaper. 

Those who at one time did not know how to spend their 



y-AN//jJcisN tSNra^a^ 



192 ^^' ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

time now had no trouble. There were man}' innocent 
amusements, and it was not necessary to go for pleasure to 
drinking-places or other localities where bad habits might 
be learned. 

Many Americans were now writing books which were read 
all over the civilized world. At one time the English had 
laughed at the idea of any one reading an American book, 
but they now began to read works by American authors 
themselves. And it was admitted that America had some 
of the greatest statesmen of the world. Daniel Webster 
Avas one of the ablest orators that had ever lived, and there 
were many other men of great ability in the American 
Congress. 

Thus it may be seen that the United States had made 
wonderful progress in every way. It was a very different 
country from what it had been at the time of the Revolu- 
tion. It Avas then one of the small and poor countries of 
the world ; now it had become one of the great and rich 
nations. But it had a terrible trial to go through yet, in 
which all its wealth and power Avere to be employed to the 
utmost. The story of this great trial Ave have next to tell. 



PART VI.-QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. 

I. Who became President in 1829? Why was he popuhir? What was 
his character ? What difficulty arose with South Carolina? What did that 
State do? What did Jackson do? What did Congress do to end the dis- 
pute? What other great question arose? How long did the United States 
Bank have to run ? What did Jackson do about the bank charter bill ? 
What effect did it have ? What was the condition of business and specula- 
tion before 1837 ? What action did Jackson take about the Western lands ? 
What followed ? Describe the panic of 1837. Who became President in 
1837? Who in 1841 ? What happened to him? Who succeeded him? 
What war took place in 1832 in the North-west? What war broke out in 
Florida ? How long did it last ? Why did it continue so lon^ ? What wa§ 



THE UMTED STATES. 193 

done with the Seminoles ? What is the Indian Territory used for ? What 
important affair took phice while Tyler was President ? How did the Texan 
war end ? When was Texas accepted as a State of the Union ? 

II. What claim was made by Mexico about Texas? W^hat boundary dis- 
pute was there ? What took place in the disputed region ? What did General 
Taylor do? Where did he meet Santa Anna's army ? How did the armies 
compare in size ? What was the result of the battle ? Who was elected 
President in 1844 ? What Mexican city was attacked by General Scott? To 
what point did he march from Vera Cruz? What was the result of his 
battles with the Mexicans ? Describe the battle of Chapultepec. When was 
the City of Mexico taken? What did Fremont do in California? W^hat 
new territory did the United States acquire by the treaty of peace ? 
What present States and Territories does it comprise ? What was thought 
then of the value of this territory ? Describe the finding of gold in California. 
What other precious metal was found ? What other value has California? 
What effect did the discovery of gold have upon emigration ? 

III. Who were the first to explore the Western territory of the United 
States ? What did they tell on their return ? What is said of the fur trade 
on the Pacific ? What did the British do to keep American emigrants away ? 
What did Dr. Whitman do ? How many people were in Oregon by the end 
of 1844? What treaty was made in 1846? What were the boundaries of 
the United States in 1800 ? What had it gained by 1850 ? How was emi- 
gration made easier? What was the condition of Chicago in 1830? W^hat 
is it now ? How did emigrants cross the Rocky Mountain region ? What 
hardships and dangers did they encounter? Tell the story of the Mormons. 
What was the population in 1830? What in 1850? AVhat Avas the prog- 
ress in industry ? AVhat is said about the mines of America ? W^ho in- 
vented the American electric telegraph ? In what year was the first line 
built ? How^ many miles of telegraph are there now in the United States ? 
What other important inventions were made ? How was india-rubber made 
useful ? When was the sewing-machine invented ? What did it cost to send 
letters before 1850? What after? When did the two-cent postage begin ? 
How were the prisons managed in old times ? How are they now ? How 
were the schools then ? How are they now ? Was drunkenness common in 
old times ? What did the temperance societies do ? What did the doctors 
show about intemperance ? What is now thought about it ? What is said 
about newspapers and books ? What did the English think about American 
books? What do they think now? Who was the greatest American 
orator? 

I n 17 



194 ^^ ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 



PART VII. 

THE ERA OF THE CIVIL WAR. 
I.— THE SLAVERY CONTROVERSY. 

An Important Question. — The portion of the history of 
our country which is now before us is a very important one. 
We have to tell how a serious question, which had made 
trouble between the IS'orth and South for years, and w^hich 
Congress could not settle to please all the people, in time 
brought on one of the greatest wars the world has ever 
known. And we have also to tell how four years of hard 
fighting and killing of people and ruin of property became 
necessary to end the difficulty which could not be settled in 
peace. The war did much harm, but it did much good 
also, for it saved the country from future danger. 

The question was that of slavery. We must go back and 
tell how it arose. As we have already said, at one time there 
were slaves in all the colonies. Later on they were all set 
free in the North. It began to look as if they would be 
freed in the South also, for it seemed as if they were of no 
great use. But when the planters began to raise cotton in 
large quantities the slaves became very useful to them. 
They thought the cotton-fields could not be worked Avithout 
them. Buying and selling slaves also became an important 
business. On account of this the people of the South gave 
up all thought of doing without slaves, but looked on them 
as their most valuable property. 



THE UNITED STATES. 195 

The Missouri Compromise. — When the new States west 
of the Mississippi began to come into the Union, the South 
wanted to have them made slave States and the North 
wanted them to be free States. This question was settled for 
a time, in 1820, by the " Missouri Compromise," of which we 
have already told. Congress decided that Missouri should 
be a slave State, but that no more slave States should be 
made farther north than the southern boundary of Missouri. 
There was no more difficulty of this kind until 1850. But 
many people in the North thought that all slavery was 
wrong and should be done away with, and they formed socie- 
ties, and helped slaves to escape from their masters. They 
believed they were doing a good work in this, but the 
Southern people declared that they were being robbed of 
their property, and grew very indignant. 

The Fugitive Slave Law. — In 1850 there was a law passed 
for the return of runaway slaves to their masters. It was 
thought this would settle the trouble, but it only made it 
worse. The party opposed to slavery grew stronger, and did 
all it could to keep those who were claimed as slaves from 
being taken South. 

The Kansas Trouble. — Millard Fillmore was now Presi- 
dent. General Taylor had been made President by the 
Whig party in 1849, but he died the next year, and Fillmore, 
the Vice-President, took his place. The next election was 
held in 1852, and Franklin Pierce was elected by the Dem- 
ocrats. The trouble increased while he was President. Two 
new Territories were formed west of Missouri, and named 
Kansas and Nebraska. According to the Missouri Compro- 
mise no slaves would be allowed in these when they became 
States, because they lay north of the southern boundary of 
Missouri. But a dispute arose as to whether they should be 
free or slave States, and in 1854 a bill was passed which 



196 ^^ ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

said that the people of these Territories should settle that 
question for themselves. 

This law caused much angry and hitter feeling. It set 
aside the Missouri Compromise and opened the whole diffi- 
culty again. People began to hurry into Kansas. The 
South wanted to get the most men there, so that when it 
came to a vote they could vote for slavery. The IS'orth 
tried to do the same thing, so that they could vote against 
slavery. 

Very soon these men of different opinions began to fight. 
Towns were burned and people were killed in Kansas. 
Votes were taken and both parties claimed to have won. 
One party tried to organize a slave State and the other a 
free State, and the people of the Territory for a long time 
were at war. 

The New Parties. — While these things were going on 
political changes were taking place. The old Whig party 
ceased to exist, and there came up a new one called the 
Free Soil party. It was opposed to the making of any more 
slave States. In 1856 the Free Soil took the name of the 
Republican party. After this the people were divided into 
the two political sections, which we still have, the new Re- 
publican and the old Democratic parties. They had several 
points of difference, but the principal one at that time was 
slavery. 

In 1856, James Buchanan was elected President by the 
Democratic party. He had a stormy time before him, for 
the excitement of the people was becoming very great. 
The feeling against slavery was spreading in the North, 
while the South was bitter against those who were helping 
the slaves to escape. 

The John Brown Raid. — This feeling was greatly increased 
by an event which took place in 1859. There was an old 



THE UNITED STATES. 197 

man, named John Brown, who had been very active in Kan- 
sas, and had fought fiercely against the Southern party there. 
He was so bitter against shivery that he thought it was his 
duty to stir up the slaves to rebel against their masters and 
make themselves free by force. 

So he led a party to Harper's Ferr}', in Virginia, where 
there was an arsenal belonging to the government. He took 
possession of this. It was his purpose to get the slaves to- 
gether, give them arms from the arsenal, and lead them to 
fight for their freedom. But no slaves came to help him, 
and very soon he and his party were taken prisoners by a 
force of United States soldiers. 

John Brown was given up to the authorities of Virginia, 
who tried him for treason. He was found guilty and 
hanged. 

Election of Lincoln. — This event stirred up the feelings 
of the people more than ever. Many who thought that 
John Brown was wrong felt sympathy for him, and when 
the time came for the next Presidential election, in 1860, 
the two parties were very bitter against each other, while 
the Republican party had grown much 
stronger. AVhen the votes were counted 
it proved that the Republicans had 
elected their candidate. This was Abra- 
ham Lincoln, of Illinois, who took his 
seat as President of the Ignited States on 
the 4th of March, 1861. 

When he was elected the country was 
at peace, and most of the people had no 
idea that war would follow. When he Lincoln. 

took his seat the country was on the 
vero^e of war. AVe have now to tell how this chano-e came 
about. 

17* 




198 ^^ ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

II.— FKOM SECESSION TO EMANCIPATION. 

The State Rig-hts Doctrine. — The election was no sooner 
over than trouble began. The political leaders in South 
Carolina had said that that State would secede if Lincoln 
was elected President. What did they mean by this ? Let 
us see. The United States, as we know, is made up of a 
number of States which have joined together to form one 
country. Some people believed that each State had the 
right to withdraw again if it wished, and carry on its gov- 
ernment alone. This is known as the " State Rights" 
doctrine. Others believed that the States had no right to 
withdraw, and that they had given up all such rights when 
they came into the Union. 

This was the question that was now before the people, — 
whether the United States was strong enough to hold to- 
gether as a single nation, or so weak that the States could 
leave the Union at their will. This problem was to be set- 
tled in the next four years. 

Seven States secede. — As soon as it was known that 
Lincoln had been elected. South Carolina determined to 
secede. A convention of delegates met, and on December 
20, 1860, it was declared to the world that this State was no 
longer a part of the United States, but an independent na- 
tion, that it could not be kept in the Union against its will, 
and that in future it intended to govern itself. Very soon 
afterwards all the States that border on the Gulf of Mexico 
did the same thing. Seven States in all declared that they 
were out of the Union. 

The Confederacy formed. — These States then joined to- 
gether and called themselves the Confederate States of 
America. Jefferson Davis was elected President, and Alex- 
ander H. Stephens, Vice-President, and Montgomery, Ala- 




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THE CIVIL WAR 



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THE UNITED STATES. 



199 




l^ama, was selected as the capital of the new Confederacy. 
These States seized the forts and the war material in their 
territory, for they expected that they would not be allowed 
to go in peace. But some forts were held by United States 
officers and soldiers who would not give them up. One of 
these was Fort Sumter, in Charleston 
harbor, which was held by Alajor Rob- 
ert Anderson. 

Port Sumter bombarded. — It was 
thus that matters stood when Abraham 
Lincoln took his seat as President, on 
the 4th of March, 1861. The Confed- 
erate authorities at Charleston had 
determined that Fort Sumter should 
be theirs, and had built batteries on 
the shores of the bay near it. On the 

12th of April, 1861, they began to fire on the fort. Major 
Anderson fired back. This continued for two days. At 
the end of that time the fort was much injured, its barracks 
were on fire, and nearly all its powder was gone. So Major 
Anderson consented to give it up, as he could defend it no 
longer. 

Preparing for War. — When the news of this event spread 
through the country it caused great excitement. All hope 
of peace was gone. Everybody now saw that there must 
be war if the country was to be kept together. The Presi- 
dent called for volunteers, and great numbers offered. In 
the South four more States seceded, — Virginia, ^orth Caro- 
lina, Arkansas, and Tennessee. Everywhere men were 
gathering, drilling, and marching. It was clear that before 
many days they would meet in deadly conflict. 

The Battle of Bull Run. — Thousands of volunteers hur- 
ried to Wasliington to save that city from danger. A 



200 ^^ ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

Southern army collected in Virginia, just south of Wash- 
ington. On the 21st of July these two armies met near 
Bull Run, a small stream a few miles away from Washing- 
ton. Here the first important battle of the war was fought. 
There w^ere about thirty thousand men on each side. They 
were all new troops, but they fought well. For a while it 
looked as if the Union army would win; but just then a 
fresh force joined the Confederate army, and on seeing this 
the Union ranks broke into disorder, and the soldiers fled in 
a panic to Washington. The Southern army had gained 
the victory. , 

This battle had a great effect. The people of the South 
were full of joy. Some of them thought that this one vic- 
tory would end the war ; but it only made the ^orth more 
determined. Congress called for half a million of men and 
voted to borrow five hundred million dollars. On every side 
volunteers flocked to the camps. Large armies were soon 
in the field on both sides. 

The War that followed. — And now we have to tell the 
story of a time that was full of important events. Many 
great battles were fought and hundreds of small ones. It 
would need a large book to describe them, and then we 
would only be telling how thousands of men were killed 
and wounded, how millions of dollars' worth of property 
was destroyed, and how for years terror and ruin hung over 
the whole country. It would be of no advantage to tell 
all this, and we shall simply give an outline of what took 
place. 

There was much hard fighting in 1862. Large armies 
had been raised and drilled, vast quantities of arms and 
other materials had been gathered, and everything made 
ready for a great war. This was the work of 1861. When 
1862 opened the armies were ready for a terrible conflict. 




THE UNITED STATES. 201 

The Contest in the West. — The fighting took place in 
three regions, — in the West, in Virginia, and on the ocean. 
In the West the United States wanted 
to sret- control of the rivers that ran 
south. The Confederate States tried to 
prevent this, and built two strong forts 
on the Tennessee and Cumberland 
Rivers, in Kentucky, and also powerful 
works on the Mississippi. The Unionists 
had covered some steamboats with iron 
plates and sent them down these rivers 
as gun-boats. An army marched over- grant. 

land at the same time. This was com- 
manded by General Ulysses S. Grant, who was afterwards to 
become so famous. 

Battle of Pittsburg Landing-. — The two forts were soon 
taken, with many prisoners, and the Confederate army had 
to retreat to Tennessee. General Grant followed, and made 
his camp at Shiloh, or Pittsburg Landing, on the Tennessee 
River. Here there took place one of the most desperate 
battles of the war. Grant's army was attacked by a strong 
army under General Albert Sydney Johnston. The fighting 
continued with great fury for two days. On the first day 
the Union army was driven back in much confusion and with 
great loss of life, but a fresh force came up, and the next day 
it drove back the Confederates and held the field. Both 
sides had fought hard and lost many men, but the battle 
ended in favor of the Northern army. 

Murfreesborough. — Much other fighting took place in the 
West during the year, and a great battle was fought at Mur- 
freesborough, in Tennessee, on the last day of 1862. The 
two armies fought all day, and three days later there was 
another battle. Then Bragg, the Confederate general, with- 



202 ^N ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

drew his army and fell back to Chattanooga. The end of 
the year's lighting left the Union army in possession of all 
Kentucky and Tennessee. 

On the Mississippi. — While this was going on there was a 
severe struggle along the Mississippi River. The Union 
gun-boats and armies had gone down this river and captured 
all the forts of the Confederates, till they came to the city of 
Vicksburg, where very strong forts had been built. 

At the same time a fleet, commanded by Admiral Farra- 
gut, had sailed to the mouth of the Mississippi. There were 
several forts along this part of the river, but the fleet fought 
its way past them and kept on until it reached the city of 
New Orleans, which was forced to surrender. This took 
place on April 25, 1862. 

Vicksburg". — Then the lieet went on up the river and cap- 
tured other places. It ran past the batteries at Vicksburg 
and joined the fleet above. Thus nearly the whole of the 
great river of the West was in the Union hands. But the 
Confederates had two strong places, Vicksburg and Port 
Hudson, and held control of the river between them, so that 
they could get supplies from Texas and the other States 
west of the Mississippi. It was the purpose of the Union 
leaders to capture these places and get control of the whole 
river, and thus cut the Confederacy in two. 

The War in Virginia. — It will be seen that in the West 
the Union army had gained great successes. They held 
Kentucky and Tennessee and part of Mississippi, and had 
won nearly the whole of the Mississippi Eiver. In Virginia, 
' on the contrary, the Confederates had been successful, and 
had gained several important victories. 

As soon as Virginia seceded the city of Richmond was 
made the capital of the Confederacy, and Jeiferson Davis, 
the President, with the rest of the Confederate government, 



THE UNITED STATES. 203 

went there. So a great part of the war took place between 
the two capital cities, Washington and Richmond. Efforts 
were made to capture both these cities, but neither of them 
was taken till near the end of the war. 

Siege of Richmond. — Early in 1862, General McClellan, 
who commanded the Union army, moved south to York- 
town, the place where the army of Cornwallis had been cap- 
tured eighty years before. After some fighting he marched 
close to Richmond and built lines of 
earthw^orks near that city. A battle 
was fought at a place called Fair Oaks, 
where General Joseph Johnston, who 
commanded the Confederate army, was 
badly wounded. General Robert E. 
Lee took Johnston's place as Confed- 
erate commander. This was an excel- 
lent choice for the Confederates, for 
General Lee proved himself to be one lee. 

of the greatest soldiers of modern times. 

Stonewall Jackson. — While these events were taking 
place. General Jackson, one of the boldest of the Confeder- 
ate commanders, was winning victories in the Shenandoah 
Valley, which lies to the north-west of Richmond. He w^as 
usually called " Stonewall" Jackson, because he was said 
to have held his troops " like a stone wall" in the battle of 
Bull Run. 

The Seven Days' Fight. — General Lee now decided to 
make an attack on McClellan. He sent for Stonewall Jack- 
son to help him, and on June 26 made an assault on the 
Union lines. A dreadful series of battles followed. Each 
army had nearly one hundred thousand men, but the Union 
army suffered a severe defeat, and McClellan began to re- 
treat towards the James River. Lee's army followed, and 




204 ^^' ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

the fighting was kept up for seven days, there being a des- 
perate battle every day. In some of these one side, in some 
the other, was successful, but the retreat continued till the 
James River was reached. Here McClellan built strong 
lines of earthworks and was safe from further attack. Thou- 
sands had been killed and wounded on each side, and the 
siege of Richmond had to be given up. 

Second Battle of Bull Run. — There was another Union 
army now collected in Virginia, under General Pope. In 
August, General Lee marched suddenly to the north and 
made an attack on this army. The battle took place near 
the old battle-ground of Bull Run. It was one of terrible 
slaughter, and in the end the Union army was defeated and 
forced back towards Washington. 

Antietam. — Then General Lee led his army across the 
Potomac into Maryland, where he hoped that many vol- 
unteers would join him. General McClellan, Avho had 
brought his army back from Richmond, followed in great 
haste. The two armies met on September 17, at Antietam 
Creek, in the west of Maryland. The battle that followed 
was one of the most desperate of the war. It ended in 
favor of the Union army. Lee crossed the Potomac again 
and marched back into Virginia. 

Fredericksburg. — There was one more terrible battle in 
Virginia during the year. This was at the town of Fred- 
ericksburg. General Lee had his army on the hills back of 
the town. General Burnside, who now commanded the 
Union army, crossed the river and attacked him. The 
slaughter that followed was dreadful. The Union army 
was completely defeated, and had about twelve thousand 
men killed and wounded. This ended the fighting in Vir- 
ginia for that year. 

The Blockade Runners. — While these things were taking 



THE rXITED STATES. 205 

place there were some important operation? of the fleet, of 
which we must now speak. Both sides had been busy build- 
ing vessels of war, and a Union fleet was sent down the 
coast, which took possession of large districts in Xorth and 
South Carolina, and others in Georgia and Florida. These 
were held till the end of the war ; but the seaports of 
Charleston, Savannah, and Wilmington were kept by the 
Confederates. Thev were blockaded by the Union fleet, 
but in spite of the fleet a orpeat manv vessels o:ot into them. 
These were called '^ blockade runners."' They took out 
cotton, rice, tobacco, and other articles, and brought back 
things needed in the South, much of the cargo being war 
material. 

The Work of the Merrimac. — Some of the Confederates 
spent their time in covering vessels with iron plates, so that 
cannon-balls could not pass through their hulls. One of 
these was a United States war vessel, the Merrimac, which 
had been sunk in the harbor of Xorfolk. This was raised 
and covered with railroad iron. Then it steamed out and 
attacked the wooden war vessels in the harbor. These fired 
on it, but the heavy cannon-balls glanced ofl" from the iron 
bars as if they had been hail-stones. Two of the wooden 
vessels were sunk, and great fear was felt as to what this 
iron monster would do. It looked as if it might destroy 
the Union fleet and attack the cities of the Xorth. 

The Monitor and the Merrimac. — But the Union side had 
been building iron vessels too. One of these was of very 
strange shape. It had a flat deck that came just above the 
water ; on this was a round tower of iron in which were 
two very heavy cannon. People called it a " cheese-box on 
a raft," and that was what it looked like. It was sent down 
to Xorfblk harbor, and reached there the day after the fight 
we have just told of. 

18 



206 ^^ ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

The Merrimac was coining out to attack the other ves- 
sels, when this strange-looking craft, which was called the 
Monitor, came gliding in. A tremendous battle followed. 
The two iron ships battered each other with cannon-balls for 
four hours, l^either hurt the other much, but the Merrimac 
got the worst of it. In the end she turned and hurried back 
to Norfolk. She never came out again. Soon afterwards 
the Union forces captured Norfolk, and the Merrimac was 
destroyed to prevent her falling into their possession. 

This was the first fight that ever took place between two 
iron-clad ships. When the news got to Europe every one 
saw that the days of wooden war ships were over. Since 
that time numbers of iron-clad ships have been built, but 
there has been no war in which they could be fairly tried. 

The Emancipation of the Slaves. — The year 1862 ended 
with a very important event. For a long time daring the 
war slavery was not interfered with, and the President said 
that the object of the war was merely to bring back the 
seceded States into the Union. But in time he saw that the 
South was getting great help from the slaves, who were 
kept at work on the plantations and helped to build forts 
and do other such work. It would weaken the Confederates 
very much if the slaves were taken from them. 

The President therefore announced that the slaves would 
be liberated on the 1st of January, 1863. On that day there 
was sent out what is known as the " Proclamation of Eman- 
cipation." It declared that all slaves within the Confederacy 
were free and would be free forever after. 

This proclamation had a great effect. From this time on 
the war was fought not only to bring back the seceded 
States, but to liberate the slaves. Many negro regiments 
were formed, and everything was done that could make the 
negroes useful to the i^ortli and deprive the South of their 



THE UNITED STATES. 207 

help. The Confederacy Avas very much weakened by this 
proclamation. As fast as the armies went south the slaves 
were set free, till in the end they all gained their freedom. 
Since the war there has not been a slave in the United 

States. 

III.— THE Fi:NAL YEARS OF THE WAR. 

Battle of Chancellorsville. — During the year 1863 the 
war went on with great activity. In the East there was not 
as much lighting as there had been the year before, but two 
great battles took place. One of these was at a place called 
Chancellorsville, in a very rough and wild country known as 
the Wilderness. General Hooker now had command of the 
Union army. He did not think it safe to attack General 
Lee at Fredericksburg, as General Burnside had done ; so 
he led his army across the Rappahannock and Rapidan 
Rivers at a point above that city. 

General Lee hastened in the same direction, and the two 
armies met in the wild country of the Wilderness. A fierce 
battle took place in a Avoods so thick that 
the armies could hardly see each other. 
General Stonewall Jackson led a strong 
force to the left through the woods, and 
made a sudden attack on the rio:ht wino- 
of the Union army. It was a complete 
surprise and this part of the army was 
driven back. The battle continued all 
the next day, and in the end Hooker 
was forced to retreat and to cross the __,J^„ /^\ ^,._.. 

STONEWALL JACKSO^^. 

river again. But Stonewall Jackson was 

killed, which was a great loss to the Confederate side. 

Lee inarches North. — The battle of Chancellorsville took 
place on the 2d and 3d of May, 1863. In the latter part of 




208 ^^ ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

June, General Lee left Fredericksburg and marched at great 
speed to the north. It was thought he wished to take the 
city of Washington, and the Union army hastened to pro- 
tect it. But Lee kept on north till he reached Maryland, 
and then went on into Pennsylvania. 

What he intended to do no one knew. Many feared he 
was going to march on Philadelphia and take possession of 
that rich city. The Union army followed him as last as it 
could. The two armies came together near the small town 
of Gettysburg, in Western Pennsylvania. General Meade 
was now in command. He had brought the army north as 
fast as the soldiers could march. 

The Battle of Gettysburg. — The advance ranks of the 
two armies came together on the 1st of July, and a severe 
fight took place. The Confederates were the stronger, and 
the Union line fell back to the top of a long line of low 
hills called Cemetery Ridge, which was fortified, while the 
remainder of the army was hurried up. Here there was 
fought the greatest battle of the war. On July 2, General 
Lee made a desperate attack on the Union lines. Terrible 
fighting took place, and many thousands were killed and 
wounded, but at the end of the day the Union army still 
held Cemetery Ridge. 

The next day General Lee sent a large force against one 
point of the Union lines. If he had broken through at 
that point he would probably have gained the victory, but 
the charging force met with dreadful slaughter and was 
completely defeated. Most of those who were not killed 
were taken prisoners. Very few got back. That ended 
the battle. General Lee led his men back to Virginia. He 
had sufifered a great defeat. Many look on the battle of 
Gettysburg as the turning-point of the war. 

The Siege of Vicksburg-. — While this was taking place 



THE UNITED STATES. 209 

in the East the Union army was gaining a great success in 
the West. General Grant had made up his mind to take 
Vicksburg and open the Mississippi River. General Sher- 
man had attacked this town the year before, but had lost 
many men and been driven back. In the spring Grant 
moved his army to a position south of the town, and marched 
up and began to besiege it. 

There were two Confederate armies, one in the town and 
one outside of it. The one outside was defeated and forced 
to retreat, and the one inside was closed in by long lines of 
earthworks that reached the river both below and above 
the town. A terrible fire was kept up by the forts upon the 
city, and the gun-boats on the river threw in bomb-shells 
and cannon-balls from the other side. 

There was dreadful distress within the city. N'o one could 
get out of it, and hundreds were being killed within it. To 
make it w^orse, the food gave out. Mules and horses were 
killed and eaten. Soon there was a famine in Vicksburg. 
There was much sickness also, and the storm of cannon- 
balls never ceased. 

This could not continue. On the 4th of July, the same 
day that Lee retreated from Gettysburg, Vicksburg sur- 
rendered. Twenty-seven thousand prisoners fell into Gen- 
eral Grant's hands. This was a most important 4th of July 
for the people of the United States, for with it ended nearly 
all chance of success for the South. They fought on, but it 
Avas a losing game from that time. 

Chattanooga. — Port Hudson surrendered three days after- 
wards, and the whole length of the Mississippi was open to 
the Union gun-boats. The rest of the lighting in the West 
for that year took place near the town of Chattanooga, in 
Tennessee. A severe battle was fought in September, in 
which the Union army was defeated. It retreated to Chat- 
o 18* 



210 AN ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

tanooga, wliile the Confederate army took possession of the 
mountains around the city, and shut the Union army in so 
closely that it became very short of food. 

General Grant was now made commander of all the 
Western armies. He came to Chattanooga and took charge 
there. General Bragg, the Confederate commander, held 
strong positions on Lookout Mountain and Missionary 
Eidge, each of which was nearly half a mile high and de- 
fended by strong forts. Yet the Union army charged up 
the hills throuo;h all the fire of these forts. It was a des- 
perate attempt, but the forts were taken and Bragg's army 
Avas driven out with great loss. This has always been con- 
sidered one of the most brilliant victories of the war. 

Grant Commander-in-Chief. — In 1864, General Grant was 
made commander-in-chief of all the military forces of the 
United States. He at once laid plans to have the armies 
of the country work together and bring the war to an end as 
quickly as possible. General Sherman was left in command 
of the Western army, Avhile Grant came to Virginia and 
took control of General Meade's soldiers. 

Grant's Advance. — The grand advance of all the forces 
began early in May. In Virginia, Grant led his army across 
the Eapidan Eiver into the thicket of the Wilderness. 
Here the battle between Hooker and Lee had taken place 
just a year before. Another desperate battle was now 
fought, in which neither army was victorious. Then General 
Grant marched towards Richmond and Lee followed him. 
Several severe battles took place, the last of them at Cold 
Harbor, near Richmond. This was a terrible encounter. 
Lee's army was behind strong earthworks, which the Union 
soldiers could not enter, on account of the terrible fire of 
the Confederates. Grant lost ten thousand men killed and 
wounded, and Lee not more than a thousand. Then Grant 



THE UNITED STATES. 211 

moved south again, crossed the James River, and began a 
siege of Eichmond and Petersburg. This siege lasted nine 
months. 

Sheridan's Ride. — In July, Lee sent General Early up the 
Shenandoah Valley to Maryland. Early marched along the 
Potomac, and for a time Washington was in danger. But 
General Sheridan was sent against him, and defeated him 
in several battles. In one of these the striking event known 
as '' Sheridan's Ride" took place. Early made a niglit 
attack on Sheridan's army at Fisher's Hill, and drove it 
back in great confusion. Sheridan was then at Winchester, 
twenty miles away. But he heard the distant roar of the 
battle, sprang to his horse, and rode at furious speed to the 
scene of conflict. Here he put himself at the head of his 
men, led them forward, and drove back the victorious Con- 
federates in a complete rout. Defeat was turned into victory 
almost in a moment, and Sheridan at once became a famous 
general. 

Sherman's March to the Sea. — In the West, General Sher- 
man did some remarkable work. He marched against the 
Confederate army, and battle after battle took place. At 
the end of every battle Sherman moved farther into Georgia, 
until he had taken the important city of Atlanta, which was 
a great railroad centre. 

General Hood, who now commanded the Confederate 
army, marched north, thinking that Sherman would follow 
him. But instead of that Sherman sent some help to Gen- 
eral Thomas, who had command in Tennessee, and then 
started on a march through Georgia, destroying the railroads 
as he went. This was Sherman's famous " March to the Sea." 
He kept on until he reached the coast at Savannah, and took 
that city. 

Hood's Defeat at Nashville. — Meanwhile General Hood 



212 ^^ ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

had marched into Tennessee and brought his army in front 
of Kashville, where General Thomas was in command. For 
two weeks he besieged that town, and then Thomas made 
a sudden assault on him. In the battle that followed Hood's 
army was terribly defeated, and so broken to pieces that it 
never came together again. This victory ended the war in 
all that portion of the South. 

Naval Victories. — During the year 1864 there were some 
important naval victories. There were several Confederate 
privateers, built in England, which had done much harm to 
American shipping. One of these, the Alabama, had taken 
sixty-five vessels. On June 19 the Alabama was met by the 
frigate Kearsarge, near the coast of France. A battle was 
fous:lit, and at the end of two hours the Alabama was sunk. 

Another battle took place in Mobile Bay. It was defended 
by strong forts and an iron-plated vessel, but Admiral 
Farragut sailed in with a fleet of wooden ships and soon 
took the forts and the iron-clad. He sailed past the forts 
standing in the rigging of his ship, spy-glass in hand, with- 
out seeming to care for the terrible danger which he ran. 
This bold action gave great fame to the brave admiral. 

Sherman's March North. — With the opening of the year 
1865 it was clear to everybody that the end of the war was 
near at hand. The South was in a desperate situation. 
General Sherman had left Savannah and was marching 
north. He marched into South Carolina and took posses- 
sion of Charleston, and then kept on until he reached I^J'orth 
Carolina. 

Lee's Retreat. — At the same time General Grant was 
pressing on Lee. Immense lines of earthworks had been 
built around Petersburg, but Grant's army kept moving 
southward until, on the 1st of April, it made an attack on 
the lower end of Lee's works, and won a victory at a place 



THE UNITED STATES. 213 

called Five Forks. General Lee then saw that he could hold 
on to Richmond no longer, and began a hasty march west- 
ward towards the mountains. 

The End of the War. — Grant followed him with the 
utmost speed, and soon Lee found himself surrounded by a 
far stronger army than his own. He could fight no longer, 
and on the 9th of April he surrendered to General Grant 
at Appomattox Court-House, Virginia. 

This surrender brought the war to an end. As soon as 
news of it spread through the South all the forces in the 
field laid down their arms, and the long and terrible civil 
war was over. 

Assassination of Lincoln. — Yet one dreadful event 
followed. On April 14, five days after General Lee's sur- 
render. President Lincoln was murdered. He was shot by 
an actor, named John Wilkes Booth, in a theatre at Wash- 
ington. This terrible deed filled the whole country with 
horror, and threw a deep shadow on the joy that had been 
felt at the close of the war. Xo more shocking event had 
ever taken place in America. 



PART VII -QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. 

I. What great question disturbed the nation before 1860 ? Where were 
slaves kept in the early days of the country ? Why were they kept in the 
South after they were set free in the North ? What did many people in the 
North think about slavery ? What law about slaves was passed in 1850 ? 
Did it settle the trouble ? Who becanie President in 1849 ? What happened 
to him ? Who became President in his place ? Who was elected President 
in 1852? What new Territories were formed? What dispute arose about 
them ? What law was passed ? Was this in agreement with the Missouri 
Compromise ? What happened in Kansas ? What new part}" succeeded the 
AVhig party? What two parties were there after 1856? What was the 
feeling about slavery at that time? What can you tell about John Brown ? 
What did he do in 1859 ? What was the end of his raid ? Who was elected 



214 AN ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

President in 1860? When did he take his seat as President? What took 
place between his election and the time he took his seat? 

II. What had been threatened in South Carolina if Lincoln should be 
elected? What is meant by seceding ? Explain the State Rights doctrine. 
What was done in South Carolina ? What other States followed this ex- 
ample ? What did these States call themselves ? Whom did they elect as 
President and Vice-President ? What fort was held by the United States in 
Charleston harbor? Who commanded there? What did the people of 
Charleston do ? What was the result ? What effect did this have on the 
country? What other States seceded ? How many did that make in all? 
Where did the armies gather ? Where and when was the first battle fought? 
What was the result ? What did Congress do then ? What was the princi- 
pal work done in 1861 ? In what three regions did fighting take place in 
1862? Where had the Confederates built forts in the West? By whom 
were they captured ? Where did a great battle take place in Tennessee ? 
Who commanded the two armies ? Describe the battle. Where did a battle 
take place on the last day of 1862 ? What was the result ? What strong 
place did the Confederates hold on the Mississippi ? What was done by 
Admiral Farragut's fleet? What did the Union army wish to do on the 
Mississippi ? What successes had the Union army gained in the West ? 
Which side was successful in Virginia ? What city had been made the 
capital of the Confederate States ? Who was placed in command of the 
Union army ? To what region did he lead it ? What noted general was 
placed in command of the Confederate army ? Why was the Confederate 
general Jackson called " Stonewall" Jackson ? Where did he win victories ? 
What did General Lee decide to do? Describe the seven days' fight. What 
did General Lee do next ? Where did a battle take place between Lee and 
Pope ? What was the result ? Where did Lee then lead his army ? Wlio 
followed him ? Where did the two armies meet ? What was the result of 
the battle of Antietam? Who was next made commander of the Union 
army ? Where did a battle take place ? What was the result of this battle ? 
What was being done on the coast? What ports did the Union fleet block- 
ade? What did the blockade runners do? What kind of vessels did the 
Confederates prepare ? How was the Merrimac strengthened ? What did it 
do to the wooden fleet in Norfolk harbor? What kind of vessels had the 
Union side been building ? What was one of these iron vessels called ? 
Why ? What was it named ? When did it reach Norfolk harbor ? De- 
scribe the fight with the Merrimac. What did this battle of iron-clad ships 
prove? With what important event did 1862 end? What was the first 
object of the war? Why did the President wish to free the slaves? On 
what day were they declared free ? What was the proclamation called ? 



THE UNITED STATES. 215 

llow did it hurt the South and help the North ? What is said of slavery at 
the end of the war? 

III. What great hattle was fought in Virginia in 18G3 ? Who commanded 
the Union army ? In what way did Stonewall Jackson surprise Hooker's 
army? What happened to Jackson? What was the result of the hattle ? 
What did General Lee do in June? What was thought of his intentions? 
What did the Union army do? Who now commanded it ? Where did the 
armies meet ? On what three days was the battle of Gettysburg fought ? 
Describe the battle of the first day, of the second day, of the third day. 
What was the result of the battle? What is thought of it? What was 
General Grant doing in the West ? Why did he wish to take Vicksburg ? 
How did he enclose the Confederate army in Vicksburg ? What happened 
in that city ? On what day did Vicksburg surrender? How many prisoners 
were taken ? What was the effect of the victories at Gettysburg and Vicks- 
burg on the Southern cause ? Where did the rest of the fighting in the West 
take place in 1863? What happened to the Union army in September? 
How was it situated in Chattanooga ? Who was made commander of all 
the Western armies ? What great battles were fought at Chattanooga ? 
What was the result? What position was given to General Grant in 1864 ? 
What plans did he lay ? Who was left in command of the Western army ? 
When did the general advance of the armies begin ? Where did Grant lead 
the Army of Virginia? What battles took place? What was the result of 
the battle at Cold Harbor ? What did Grant do then ? How long did the 
siege of Petersburg last? What events took place in the Shenandoah Val- 
ley? Describe "Sheridan's Kide." What did General Sherman do in the 
West ? Where did he march after taking Atlanta ? What is this march 
called ? What did General Hood do ? Who was the Union commander 
at Nashville? What happened to Hood's army? What important naval 
battle took place in 1864? What harm had the Alabama done ? Describe 
the naval battle in Mobile Bay. What did Sherman do in 1865? On what 
day did General Grant break through General Lee's lines? What did Lee 
do then? Where and when did Lee's surrender take place? What effect 
did this have? What dreadful event happened soon after? How did it 
affect the people ? 



216 ^N ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 



PART VIII. 

THE ERA OP PEACE AND PROGRESS. 
I.— EVENTS SIISrCE THE WAE. 

The Evil of the War. — The great war was at an end. 
What had been its cost to the country and what good had 
come of it ? Let us see. In the first place a vast multitude 
of men had been taken from their homes to live the life 
and pass through the dangers of warfare. On the Union 
side more than two and a half millions of men had been in 
the army. At the end of the war there were still more than 
a million in the ranks. We do not know how many there 
were on the Confederate side. There were not nearly as 
many as on the Union side, probably not more than half the 
number. In the Union armies more than three hundred 
thousand men were killed, or died of wounds and disease, 
and the losses of the Confederate armies are supposed to 
have been as great. 

This was a frightful slaughter, and to it must be added all 
those who died after the war from wounds, or other effects 
of the dangerous life of a soldier. The money cost of the 
war was also very great. At the end of the war the United 
States had a debt'of $2,750,000,000. The States and the 
cities also had heavy debts. We do not know how much 
the Confederates States had spent, but they must have used a 
very great amount of money and materials. And this money 
loss Avas only part of the loss. There was not much damage 



THE UNITED STATES. 21 7 

done in the I^orth, for nearly all the fighting had been in 
the Southern States. But in the South there was ruin 
everywhere. Eailroads had been destroyed, towns burned, 
and much other damage done. It would take years to make 
up the losses of the war. Everybody in the South was poor, 
and they had lost all their slaves, who were valued at a 
great sum of money. But in the North scarcely any harm 
had been done to city or country, business of every kind had 
been good, and many had grown rich during the war. The 
South was in a dreadful condition, but the North showed 
hardly any signs of injury from the great conflict. 

The Good of the War. — Great couras^e and skill had been 
shown on both sides. It was made clear that the Ameri- 
cans north and south are a brave people; they had more 
respect for each other than ever before. So much good 
was accomplished. The war, as we have said, was not fought 
to abolish slavery, but to preserve the Union. Its purpose 
was to keep the nation together, and in this it had suc- 
ceeded. It will be long again before any State tries to 
secede. 

Slavery was abolished, but this had been done as an 
act of war, to help the North to conquer in the great con- 
test. Yet it was an act that could not be undone. The 
slaves had been set free, and free they must continue while 
America remains a nation. The South would not have them 
as slaves again if it could. The people there have found 
that they are better off without slavery. Thus the great 
question which so long divided the nation is set at rest for- 
ever. This was the greatest good that came of the war. 
The civilization of America is to-day a much higher one 
than it was thirty years ago. 

Reconstruction. — Let us go on to see what followed the 
war. We have told how President Lincoln was assassinated. 

K 19 



218 ^A' ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

]N"othing ever took place in this country that caused more 
grief and horror. The people of the North had come to 
look on Abraham Lincoln as a man as great and noble as 
George Washington, and it was a terrible shock to them 
that he should be killed at the end of his great work. Few 
things ever happened in the country that caused so much 
excitement and angry feeling, and the murder of Lincoln 
made the difficult questions that followed the war much 
harder to settle. 

He had just been elected to a second term as President, 
and the Vice-President, Andrew Johnson, now took his 
place. The government had serious work before it. The 
war was over, but it had left everything in disorder. Eleven 
States had declared themselves out of the Union. They 
were to be brought back again. How was this to be done ? 

The slaves were now free in all the States. An amend- 
ment to the Constitution had been adopted on April 8, 1864, 
setting free all slaves Avithin the United States. This is 
known as the Thirteenth Amendment. The seceded States 
had to agree to it before they could come back. Another 
amendment, the Fourteenth, was offered, and was adopted 
in July, 1868. This gave negroes all the rights of white 
people, except the right to vote. The seceded States had to 
agree to this also. 

The President impeached. — President Johnson objected 
to these amendments, and to the other laws passed by Con- 
gress on the same subject. He vetoed them all. This made 
much bitter feeling between him and Congress, and in the 
end he was impeached; that is, he was accused of not 
doing the duty he had sworn to do, and was tried before the 
Senate, which acted as a court. The trial caused great ex- 
citement in the country. The Senate heard all that was to 
be said on both sides, and decided that the President had 



THE UNITED STATES. 



219 



not acted contrary to his oath of office, and therefore was 
not gailty of the charges against him. This was the only 
time an American President has been tried for faihire to do 
his duty. 

The Suffrag-e Amendment. — In 1870 another amendment 
to the Constitution was adopted. It is known as the Fif- 
teenth Amendment. It gave to negroes, both those who 
had lately been slaves and those who had always been free, 
the right to vote. Under this law every American of the 




A STAGE-RANCH ON I'HE WYOMING PLAINS. 



proper age, except women and Indians, can vote. One by 
one the seceded States agreed to these amendments, and 
were taken back into the Union. Virginia, Mississippi, and 
Texas were the last. These came back in 1870. 

Indian Wars. — During this time there was much trouble 
with the Western Indians, and travel across the plains be- 
came very dangerous. The Indians east of the Mississippi 
had been quieted long before, but settlers were pushing 



220 ^^ ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

everywhere into the Western country, and manj^ of them 
treated the Indians very unjustly, who in return killed the 
settlers and burned their houses. This brought on several 
Indian wars, and it took a great deal of fighting to put down 
the tribes. Many persons were killed on both sides, but in 
the end most of the Indians were placed on reservations, or 
lands set aside for them. Here they are taken care of by 
the government. Many of these reservations are in the 
Indian Territory, but there are others in all the States and 
Territories west of the Mississippi River, and some in the 
States east of that river. 

Alaska. — In 1867 another addition was made to the terri- 
tory of the United States. The region known as Alaska w^as 
bought from Russia. It is a large country, but most of it 
is of little use, on account of the coldness of the climate. 
Yet many furs come from there, and on some islands near 
the coast the valuable fur seals are found in great numbers. 
The fisheries are also of great value. Rich deposits of gold 
have been found there, and mines opened, and in many re- 
spects Alaska is an important addition to the country. 

The Chicago Fire. — In 1868, General Grant was elected to 
the Presidency, and took his seat on the 4th of March, 1869. 
He remained President for eight years. In these eight 
years some important events happened. One of these was 
the Chicago fire, the greatest conflagration that has ever 
been known in America. It is doubtful if any fire in any 
other city of the world ever destroyed so much property. 
It began on October 8, 1871, and burned for three days. 
The part of the city burned was four and a half miles long 
and a mile wide. One hundred thousand people were left 
without homes, and two hundred were killed. The money 
loss was about two hundred million dollars. In the same 
year great forest fires broke out in the neighboring States. 



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UNITED STATES. 



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THE UNITED STATES. 221 

In Wisconsin many villages were burned and fifteen Imn- 
dred people perished. 

In i^ovember of the next year a terrible fire broke out in 
Boston, which destroyed property valued at seventy-five 
million dollars. Yet so great was the activity of the people 
that in a few years both those cities were built up again, 
and very little trace of the fires remained. 

The Alabama Claims. — Another great event which hap- 
pened while Grant was President was the settlement of the 
" Alabama claims." We must explain what this means. In 
the last chapter we told how the Confederate privateer, the 
Alabama, had sailed from England, and captured and burned 
many American merchant vessels on the ocean. For this the 
United States blamed England. The Alabama was built in 
England, and it was said that the British government had no 
right to let it set sail, and that England ought to pay for all 
the damage that this vessel had done. 

The dispute might have brought on a war between 
America and England, but both nations agreed to let it be 
settled by a commission of men chosen by the two countries. 
This was done, and the commission found that England was 
in the wrong, and must pay damages to the United States. 
The amount was sixteen million two hundred and fifty thou- 
sand dollars. This was the first great question between 
nations that was settled in this way. Such questions are 
generally decided by war, but it would be far better and 
cheaper to decide them all in a peaceful manner. 

The Business Panic. — In 1873 a great business panic 
began. It was brought on in the same way as that of 1837 
had been. There was wild speculation everywhere, many 
families lived in great luxury, many more railroads were 
built than the country needed, and every man in business 
fancied that he was growing rich. Suddenly some great 

19* 



222 



^iV^ ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 



business houses proved unable to pay their debts, and this 
quickly brought others into the same trouble. The difficulty 
rapidly spread over the whole country. Banks failed, fac- 
tories stopped running, the building of railroads came to an 
end, money was not to be had, and thousands of people who 
had believed themselves in the way to grow rich found 
themselves poor. For the working people there Avas very 




NEW ENGLAND LOG-HOUSE AT THE CENTENNIAL. 

little to do. It was the Avorst business trouble the country 
had ever seen, for there were many more to feel it than in 
the past. Five or six years elapsed before all the elFects of 
the panic passed away and business became as good as it 
had been before 1873. 

The Centennial Exhibition.— There was one more in- 
teresting event while Grant was President. In 1876 it 
would be just one hundred years from the date in which 



THE UNITED STATES. 



223 



America liad declared herself free, and the people deter- 
mined to celebrate this event in a o^rand wav. So it was 
decided to hold a great exhibition in Philadelphia, where 
the Declaration of Independence had been signed. Large 
buildings w^ere prepared for a world's fair, and goods were 
sent from every part of the country and from every foreign 
nation. Millions of people visited it, some of them coming 
from distant parts of the earth. I^othing of the kind had 
ever been seen in America, and it was a great lesson to the 




CENTENNIAL AWARD MEDAL. 



people of this country. They learned there in what things 
America was superior to Europe, and in what Europe was 
superior to America. Every one saw that in machinery no 
other country could surpass the United States, but that in 
art Europe was far in advance. But this is not so much 
the case to-day. Great progress has been made in American 
art since that time ; her people have l)een wise enough to 
profit by the lesson of the Centennial Exhibition. 

The Election of 1876. — In ^N'ovember, 1876, there was an 



224 ^^ ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

election for President that caused much feeling. The E.e- 
publican candidate was Rutherford B. Hayes, the Dem- 
ocratic, Samuel J. Tilden. The election was so close that 
there was a dispute as to who had been elected. Congress 
was not able to settle this, so a commission of fifteen men 
was chosen from the members of Congress and the judges 
of the Supreme Court. This commission decided that 
Hayes was elected President, so he took his seat on the 4th 
of March, 1877. 

Several things of importance took place during his term 
of office. While the war was going on gold had become 
of more value than paper money. From the beginning of 
1862 it had not been used as money, and all the business of 
the country was done with bank-notes. This continued until 
1879. On the 1st of January of that year the government 
began to pay out gold to its creditors, and since then paper 
money has been worth as much as gold. 

In 1878 yellow fever broke out in many of the cities of 
the South, and raged so fiercely that thousands of the peo- 
ple died. Business could not be carried on, so there was 
much suffering from this cause also. The fever appeared 
again the next year. The people of the ^N'orth did much to 
help the sufferers in the South during this terrible period. 
Money, food, and other necessaries were given in large 
amounts, doctors and nurses went South at the peril of their 
lives, and the warm feeling of sympathy that was shown did 
much to hasten the growing good feeling between the two 
sections of the country. 

Garfield's Election. — When the time came for the next 
Presidential election (1880) the Eepublicans nominated Gen- 
eral James A. Garfield, the Democrats, General W. S. Han- 
cock. Garfield was elected. The new President soon 
showed that he was going to do what he thought was for 



THE UNITED STATES. 225 

the good of the country. When men asked for offices he 
did not trouble himself to know what they had done for the 
party, but was careful to find out if they knew anything 
about the work of the office, and could be trusted to do 
their duty. 

The Assassination of Garfield. — This gave great offence 
to some persons who Avanted offices, but were not fit to do 
the work required. One of these men, named Charles J. 
Guiteau, became so angry that he resolved to kill the Presi- 
dent. On the 2d of July, 1881, four months after Garfield 
was inaugurated, this man came up behind him in the rail- 
road depot at Washington, drew a pistol, and shot him in 
the back. 

The President fell, severely wounded. The news spread 
rapidly over the country, and caused as much horror and 
excitement as had been occasioned by the death of Lin- 
coln. Garfield did not die at once. He lay sick for more 
than three months. During this interval every one felt 
the greatest sympathy for him, and Avhen he died, on the 
19th of September, it w^as as if every family in the land 
had lost one of its dearest members. The wounded Presi- 
dent had been so brave and patient in his suffering that the 
people of all parties had grown to love him. The whole 
people of the country seemed watching by his bedside, for 
the telegraph brought them news almost as quickly as if they 
had been there, and nothing has ever shown more clearly 
the wonderful character of the telegraphic service than the 
way in which the story of the dying President was laid 
every morning before the anxious and sympathetic nation. 

Election of Cleveland. — After the death of Garfield the 

Vice-President, Chester A. Arthur, became President, and 

filled the office till March 4, 1885. On that day Grover 

Cleveland took his seat as President. He was elected as the 

P 



226 ^^ ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

cmclidate of the Democratic party, and was the first Demo- 
cratic President since 1856. 

In the Presidential election of 1888, Benjamin Harrison, 
the Republican candidate, was chosen, and took his seat on 
March 4, 1889. He is the grandson of General Harrison, 
who had been made President in 1841. 

The Charleston Earthquake. — In 1886 there occurred an 
event that Avas in some respects more terrible than the 
Chicago fire. A great earthquake took place. The centre 
of its force was in South Carolina, and the city of Charles- 
ton was so shaken that a great part of it fell in ruins to the 
ground. IN'o thing so dreadful of this kind had ever been 
known in the United States. A single minute turned a happy 
and prosperous city into a distressed and ruined one. The 
people ran in terror from their falling houses, but many were 
killed in the houses and in the streets. The eartli cracked 
open here and there, and mud and stones were thrown into 
the air. The people of Charleston lost ten million dollars 
by this earthquake shock, besides all the suftering they 
endured. 

The Chicago Anarchists. — For a number of 3'ears there 
has been much trouble in this country between working 
people and their employers. The working people have 
joined into strong societies, and there have been many great 
strikes for wages. In Chicago, on May 1, 1886, there was 
a strike in favor of making eight hours the time of a day's 
work. This led to an awful scene of murder. There was 
a large party of foreigners in Chicago who v/anted to do 
away with all law and order, and declared that no man had 
a right to be richer than other men, but that all ought to be 
alike in this respect. 

During the eight-hour strike there was held a meeting of 
these anarchists, as they were called, Avhich the police tried to 



THE UNITED STATES. 227 

break up, but wliile tbey Avere attempting to do so some one in 
the crowd threw among them a bomb charged with dynamite. 
Dynamite is an explosive substance which is much more 
violent in its action than gunpowder. The bomb burst in 
their midst and did terrible damage. Six of the policemen 
Avere killed and sixty-one w^ounded. The police drew their 
pistols and tired on the mob, and many of the anarchists, in 
their turn, were killed and wounded. Seven were arrested 
and found guilty of murder. Of these one killed himself, 
four were hung, and the others sent to prison for life. 

The Johnstown Disaster. — On May 31, 1889, a terrible 
event took place. During a severe rain-storm a dam gave 
way on a branch of the Conemaugh Eiver, in Western 
Pennsylvania. The whole valley of the river was swept 
with a destructive flood, and the city of Johnstown and 
several smaller places were carried away on the raging 
waters. Five or six thousand people w^ere drowned and 
many millions of dollars' worth of property destroyed. ^N'o 
accident so dreadful in loss of life had ever happened in 
America before. Much food and clothing and great sums 
of money were given by charitable people to aid the suf- 
ferers, but the terrible loss of life no money could repay, 
and the Johnstown flood will long be remembered in the 
history of destructive events. 

II.— RECENT PROGRESS IN AMERICA. 

The Disbanding' of the Armies. — When the w^ar came to 
an end there were more than a million of men in the armies 
of the North. These were trained soldiers who knew all 
about the art of war, but had long l)een removed from the 
arts of peace. In old times such an army would have set 
up a kingdom and put their leader on the throne. Their 



228 ^^ ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

generals would have become nobles, and spent a life of })ride 
and idleness while making the people work for them. 

What did the army of America do ? As fast as the sol- 
diers were paid off they laid down their arms and returned 
home, where they at once went to work to make a peaceful 
living. They became farmers, mechanics, merchants, etc., 
as they had been before the war. The generals began to 
make their living in the same quiet way as the men from 
the ranks. Even General Grant and General Lee were not 
too proud to work to earn a living. In a year or two after 
the war the armies had disappeared. Only the few soldiers 
were left that were needed to act as police for the nation. 

This was a remarkable result. In the countries of Europe 
to-day there are millions of soldiers, though these countries 
are at peace. Twenty-live thousand soldiers are enough to 
answer all the purposes of the United States, and these are 
principally employed in keeping the Indians in order. The 
people of America are not forced to give part of their wages 
to keep up great and useless armies, and this is one reason 
why American workmen are so much better off than those 
of Europe. 

The Electric Cable. — It is in the arts of peace that 
America is now winning its victories. Let us see what some 
of these have been. One of these victories of peace came 
just after the war. An electric wire, or cable, was laid 
under the ocean from America to Europe in 1866, and peo- 
ple began to send messages to one another under two thou- 
sand miles of sea. Since that time other cables have been 
laid between Europe and America, and every day now oar 
papers print long accounts of what is taking place in Europe. 
They get their news from that great distance more quickly 
than they could have got news from a place ten miles away 
in the last century. 



THE UNITED STATES 



229 



Telegraph Extension. — In the Uiiitecl States telegraph 
wires now spread everywhere, and everything of importance 
that takes place is told in the newspapers of the whole 
country a few hours afterwards. There are more than one 
hundred and seventy-iive thousand miles of telegraph wire, 
three times as much as in any other country, and enough to 
go seven times around the earth. 

Signal Service. — One of the great benefits of the tele- 




I in -^w iNiT --riiioN 



graph is its use in the signal service. Every day the 
state of the weather in all parts of the country is tele- 
graphed to Washington. The reports thus received are 
carefully studied, and the kind of weather that is likely to 
come is made out and telegraphed in all directions. Warn- 
ings of storms thus sent are of great use to sea-captains and 
farmers, and there is no one who does not take interest in 
them. Along the coast there are life-saving stations, for the 

20 



230 -47V ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

rescue of sailors and passengers from wrecked ships. These 
liave proved of great service, and many lives have been 
saved hy their hrave crews. 

Electrical Discoveries. — Electricity has been made useful 
in many other ways. The streets of many of our cities and 
towns are brightly lighted with it, and stores and houses 
also use it for this purpose. It is used to run machinery and 
locomotives. By the invention of the telephone men are 
able to talk with one another over many miles of distance 
in the same tones they use in talking face to face. All this 
is very w^onderful. It seems the work of magic. Yet it 
is as true as wonderful, and is the work of thought and 
industry, not of magic. 

Railroad Extension. — The railroads have made as great 
progress as the telegraphs. The greatest feat in railroad 
building that the world had known up to that time was fin- 
ished in 1869. This w^as the Central Pacific Railroad, from 
Omaha, across the great plains of the West and the Rocky 
Mountains, to San Francisco. The last spike of this rail- 
road was driven in May, 1869, at Ogden, in the Territory of 
Utah. This spike was connected with the telegraph wires, 
so that, as the blows of the hammer fell on it, they w^ere 
heard in the telegraph offices of the principal cities of the 
East. This was another great triumph of the telegraph, for 
these offices were thousands of miles away from wdiere the 
spike was being driven. Since then two other Pacific rail- 
roads, the Northern and the Southern Pacific, have been 
built. A traveller can now go from N^ew York to San 
Francisco, a distance of three thousand three hundred miles, 
in less than a week. He can cross the ocean to Europe in 
the same time in the fast steamships which now start weekly. 

There are now (1890) over one hundred and fifty thou- 
sand miles of railroad in the United States, — more than in 



THE UNITED STATES. 



231 




LIGHT-HOUSE, MONTAUK POINT. 



all Europe, and nearly as mucli as in all the world outside 
of this country. These railroads have been a wonderful aid 



232 



AN ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 



to travel. Sixty years ago it took a person nearly a year 
to go from Oregon to Washington; now he can do it in 
a week. Thousands of persons travel to-day for every one 
who did so a century ago. Then a man would make his 




INTERIOR OF A POSTAT, CAR. 



will if he were going from Kew York to Boston ; now 
he would hardly think of doing so if he were going to 
China. 

Usefulness of the Railroads. — Railroads are also of the 
greatest use in carrying goods of all kinds from one part 
of the country to another. Without them it would he 



THE UNITED STATES. 233 

impossible for the great cities of America to exist, for they 
could not get the food their people need. They are of the 
greatest use also in carrying the mails. It is wonderful how 
letter-writing has grown in America since the days of the 
railroad. In 1790 there were only seventy-live post-offices 
in the United States; now there are over fifty thousand. 
Then it took two days for a letter to go from Philadelphia 
to Xew York ; now it takes two hours. Then the postage 
was ten cents up to forty miles, and twenty-five cents for 
distances over five hundred miles ; now it is two cents to 
all parts of the country, and five cents to Europe. 

Increase of Population. — The population of the United 
States in 1790, when the first census was taken, was less 
than four millions. The census of 1890 makes it nearly 
sixty-five millions, — an addition of over sixty millions in a 
century. This is a remarkable increase. If this rate of 
growth continues tlie United States will soon have the 
greatest population of any civilized country on the earth. 
The people of Europe are coming here in multitudes every 
year ; more than half a million reach here yearly. These 
spread over all parts of the country, and are very useful as 
farmers, laborers, and mechanics. 

The Indians. — Many Chinese also have come to America, 
but the laws do not permit any more to enter the country. 
They did not make good citizens, and were arri^ang in such 
numbers that it became necessary to stop them. The In- 
dians, who once had possession of the whole country, are 
now collected on reservations in the AVest. They are so few 
in number that these reservations are very thinly peopled. 
There has been no fighting for several years with the In- 
dians, and perhaps may be no more. They are provided with 
food by the government, but many of them are working tor 
themselves. Some of the tribes in the Indian Territory are 

20* 



234 ^^ ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

becoming civilized. They hold their lands in common ; but 
it is proposed to divide them into farms, and give each 
Indian family its own farm. It is thought that they will 
become more contented and industrious if this is done. 

One of the great means taken to civilize the Indians is by 
education. Schools have been started at various points, in 
which Indian children are taught the elements of knowledge, 
the use of tools, and the benefits of industry. These schools 
are proving very useful, and many young Indians are going 
back to their tribes with trained hands and cultivated minds. 
In a few years these young men will become leaders in the 
tribes, and must do much to bring them into habits of civ- 
ilization. The days of the wild Indians of this country are 
nearly over. In the future we shall have working and 
thinking Indians to take their place. 

Increase of Wealth. — In the years that have passed since 
the close of the war the United States has grown greatly in 
riches. In 1880, Great Britain was the only country in the 
world that had more wealth. In 1890 the United States 
will probably be the richest country on the earth. Part of 
this wealth comes from the product of the American mines. 
The mines of the West yield a large value in gold and silver 
yearly; but the iron, coal, copper, and other mines of the 
country are yet more valuable. And of still greater value is 
the soil, Avhich yields more food than all the people of the 
United States can consume. 

Manufacturing- Industries. — Another great source of this 
wealth is the manufacturing industry of the United States, 
which produces thousands of millions of dollars' worth of 
goods yearly. In former times most of the articles used in 
tliis country were brought from Europe, but now many 
things are sent from here to Europe. American watches are 
the cheapest in the world, and no better are made anywhere. 



THE UNITED STATES. 



235 



Many other things came from ahroad, such as ghissware, line 
furniture, soap, writing-paper, perfumery, carriages, and 
numerous other articles ; now we make more than we can 
use of these goods, and send many of them to other coun- 
tries. At one time all our line knives, tools, and other goods 




TIJIKS UF PEACE. 



of steel came from Sheffield, in England, and only coarse 
cutlery and tools were made here ; now American cutlery 
is sent to Sheffield and sold there. Years ago nearly all our 
carpets were brought from England ; but now the city of 
Philadelphia is the greatest carpet manufacturing city in 
the world. The same could be said of many other things. 



236 ^^^ ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

The United States sends to other countries to-day great 
quantities of manufactured goods, meat, and grain. We 
produce so much more than we can use that there is plenty 
left to sell to other countries. 

Invention of Machinery. — This great progress is due to 
the remarkahle inventive power of the Americans. In ma- 
chinery for saving labor the United States is in advance 
of all other nations. Our inventors are so active that more 
than twenty-two thousand patents have been granted in a 
single year. Machines are made to do all kinds of work. 
Farmers do not have to work half so hard as they once did, 
and yet produce much more. The same may be said of 
every kind of manufacturing business. A hundred years 
ago the printing-press could only print two hundred and 
fifty sheets on one side in an hour ; now forty thousand 
sheets can be printed on both sides in the same time. 

Progress of the South. — This progress is not confined to 
the N'orth and West. The South is making great progress 
also. At the end of the war the Southern States were in a 
condition of ruin. Only their soil was left, and much of 
that had been so overworked that it was of no value. The 
slaves whom they had depended on to do their work were 
free. It looked as if it would take a century to recover 
from the ruin of the war. 

Yet the South to-day is richer and better oft* than it ever 
was. Free labor has proved more profitable than slave 
labor, and the crops of cotton and other produce are greater 
than ever. And the white population has gone to work 
nobly and cheerfully. The country is being developed 
everywhere. Iron and coal mines are now being opened 
and worked, and workshops and factories are being built in 
many parts of the South. Great exhibitions have been held 
at Atlanta and ^N^ew Orleans, in which the progress of the 



THE UNITED STATES. 



237 



South was shown. In the time to come the whole country 
will be one great hive of industry, and all parts will work 
together for the good of the whole. 

Education. — If we look for the causes of this great prog- 




LOADING VESSELS WITH TIMBER AND LUMBER AT PENSACOLA. 



ress we shall find that one of the most important is education. 
The people of the United States are among the best edu- 
cated on the face of the earth. In 1880 there were nearly 
a million and a quarter public schools iu,the country, with 



238 



AX ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 



over six million pupils. There are now many more than 
this. Besides these, there were nearly four hundred col- 
leges and a very considerable number of private schools. 




Our people spend more 
for the support of their 
public schools than the 
people of all Europe. In 
this Avay we are being 
taught to use our brains 
as well as our hands, and 
it is this brain-work which keeps the country so active in 
every direction. 

School-life is not ended when the school-term of the boy 
or girl is over. We go to school all our lives, and our edu- 
cation is all the time increasing. Newspapers and books con- 
stantly add to the learning gained in the school-house. 
There are now (1890) about eighteen thousand newspapers 
and magazines in .the United States, and there are enough 



THE UNITED STATES. 



239 



newspapers printed every week to give one to every man, 
woman, and child in the country. Books are also printed 
in such numbers that every one can liave all the reading he 
needs for very little money. A century ago many of the 

n 




IN A BOOK STORE. 



people could not get one new hook a year. Many now get 
a new one almost every day. 

Every city has its libraries, its art galleries, and other 
means for the higher education of the people. Education 
is spreading in new directions. Instruction in industry is one 
of the new ideas of the times. Children are being taught 
to draw and to use tools, and are thus being made fit for 
the business of life ; for in life the body has to be used as 



240 -4iV ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF 

well as the brain, and to make the best kind of a man 
the body and the brain of the child need to be educated 
together. 

Benevolence. — Of one more thing we may 8peak. The 
people of the United States are developing in charity as 
well as in other directions. Everywhere we see liospitals, 
asylums, and homes which have been started by the money 
of rich people. Whenever a great fire takes place, or a 
great storm destroys farms and villages, the people give 
money freely to help the destitute. This is the best kind 
of progress. It is progress in that love for all mankind 
which was taught by Christ. Let us hope that it will grow 
and spread in this country, for in that way the peo]Dle of 
America may be made the noblest and the happiest of all 
the people of the earth. 

PART VIII.-QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. 

I. How many soldiers were in the Union army during the war? How 
many were there at the end of the war? About how many Confederate 
soldiers were there ? How many were lost on each side ? What was the 
United States debt at the end of the war? Where was most damage done ? 
What was the condition of the South after the war? What of the North ? 
What good was accomplished by the war? What is now thought of slavery 
in the South? What did the people think of Abraham Lincoln? How 
were they affected by his assassination ? Who succeeded him as President ? 
What was to be done? What is done by the Thirteenth Amendment to the 
Constitution ? What by the Fourteenth ? How did President Johnson deal 
with the laws passed by Congress on the subject of reconstruction? What 
did Congress do in consequence ? What is meant by impeachment of a 
President ? Before what court was he tried ? W^hat was the result of the 
trial? What is done by the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution? 
How did the seceded States act towards these amendments ? Wiien did the 
last of them come back into the Union ? How were the Western Indians 
treated ? What happened in consequence ? What has been done with these 
Indians? What new territory was added to the United States in 1867? 
From whom was it purchased ? What makes it valuable ? What President 



d I 



THE UNITED STATES. 241 

was elected in 1868 ? How long did he remain President ? What great fire 
took place in 1871? How much of the city was burned? What was the 
money loss? Where did great forest fires take place in the same year? In 
what other city did a great fire break out the next year ? What was the loss ? 
How did the people act after the fires? What is meant by the " Alabama 
claims"? Why did America blame England? How was it decided to 
settle the dispute? What sum was England required to pay? How are dis- 
putes between nations usually settled ? What was the cause of the business 
panic of 1873 ? What effect did it have upon the country ? How long did 
it take for business to recover from the panic ? Where was a great exhibi- 
tion held in 1876 ? Why ? What did this exhibition teach our people? In 
what has great progress taken place since that time ? Who were the candi- 
dates in the Presidential election of 1876 ? How was the dispute about the 
election settled ? Who became President? When did gold come into use 
again as money ? How long had the business of the country been done with 
paper money only ? In what years was yellow fever an epidemic in the 
South ? How did the North act ? What eflTect had this on the feeling of the 
two sections ? Who was elected President in 1880? What did he do about 
appointing men to office ? What sort of men did this make angry? What 
happened to the President? How long did he live afterwards? What was 
the feeling of the people? What is said about the telegraphic service? 
Who became President after Garfield's death ? Who became President in 
1885 ? By what party was he elected ? Of what party were all the Presi- 
dents between 1861 and 1885 ? What terrible event happened in the South 
in 1886 ? What was the effect of the earthquake at Charleston ? What 
was the loss ? What hVive the Avorking people done of recent 3-ears ? When 
did the eight-hour strike take place in Chicago? What class of people took 
advantage of it? What was done by the anarchists when the police tried to 
break up their meeting ? What effect did the bomb have ? How were the 
anarchists punished ? Describe the disaster at Johnstown, Pennsylvania. 

II. How many soldiers were in arms at the end of the war? What would 
such an army have done in old times? What did the American army do? 
What was left of this great army after a year or two ? How many soldiers 
are in our present army ? For what are they used ? What great event took 
place in 1866 ? What advantage do we get from the Atlantic cables? How 
many miles of telegraph line are there in the United States ? How does this 
compare with the telegraphs of other countries ? What is the purpose of the 
signal service ? To whom is it of great use ? In what ways is electricity 
used ? What does the telephone enable men to do ? What great feat in rail- 
road building was finished in 1869 ? Describe the event of driving the last 
spike. What other Pacific railroads are there ? How long does it take to go 
L ^ 21 



242 ^N ELEMENTARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 

from New York to San Francisco ? How long to Europe ? How many miles 
of railroad are there in the United States at present? How does this compare 
with Europe and the world ? How has it affected travel ? In what other 
ways are the railroads useful ? How many post-offices were there in the 
United States in 1790? How many are there now? How much faster are 
letters carried now than then ? What was the rate of postage then ? What 
is it now ? What was the population then ? What is it now ? How many 
persons come here every year from Europe ? What becomes of these people ? 
What people are prevented by law from coming to this country ? Why ? 
Is there any more fighting with the Indians? How are they cared for? 
What is proposed to be done with them ? What means are taken to civilize 
them ? In what way are the Indian schools useful ? Which was the richest 
country in the world in 1880? Which is likely to be in 1890? What are 
important sources of the wealth of America ? What other great source of 
wealth is there ? What kinds of goods did we formerly get from abroad ? 
What do we now send abroad ? To what do we owe our great progress in 
manufacturing? How many patents have been granted in a single year? 
Do people have to work as hard as they did ? What advance has been made 
in the art of printing ? What was the condition of the South at the end of 
the war? What is its condition to-day ? In what way is the country being 
developed? Where have great exhibitions been held? What will be the 
condition of the whole country in the time to come ? What is one important 
cause of this great progress ? How many schools were there in this country 
in 1880 ? How many pupils ? How many colleges ? How many newspapers 
and magazines are there at the present time ? How many newspapers are 
printed each week ? How have the number of books increased in this country ? 
What other means of education have the cities ? What new idea is there in 
education? What is said about benevolence in America? In what ways 
do people give money freely ? What effect is progress in this direction 
likely to have upon the American people? 



NDEX 



A. 



Aeadians expelled by the English, 108. 

Acadians, home of the, 107. 

Adams, John, elected President, 154. 

Adams, John, in the Continental Con- 
gress, 129. 

Adams, John Quincy, elected President, 
165. 

Agriculture in the South, 141. 

Alabama and Kearsarge, the, 212. 

Alabama claims, settlement of the, 221. 

Alaska purchased from Russia, 222. 

Allen, Ethan, captures Ticonderoga, 124. 

Amendments to the Constitution, 217, 
218. 

America discovered by Columbus, 16. 

America, how named, IS. 

America, native inhabitants of, 26. 

American commerce, interference with, 
155. 

American discontent, causes of, 115-120. 

Anderson, Major, at Fort Sumter, 199. 

Andre, Major, capture and execution of, 
137. 

Andros, Sir Edmund, 52. 

Antietam, battle of, 204. 

Armies, disbanding of the, 227, 228. 

Arnold, Benedict, attacks Quebec, 128. 

Arnold, Benedict, treason of, 137. 

Arthur, Chester A., becomes President, 
225. 



B. 



Bacon, Nathaniel, rebellion of, 43. 
Balboa discovers the Piioific, 22. 
Barbary States, war with the, 162. 
Benevolence, progress of, 240. 
Bennington, battle of, 134. 
Berkeley, Governor, revenge of, 44. 
Blockade runners, the, 205. 



Boone, Daniel, in Kentucky, 140. 

Boston, English besieged in, 125. 

Boston, evacuation of, 127. 

Boston fire, the, 221. 

Boston massacre, the, 120. 

Boston, oi)pression of. 122. 

Boston Port Bill, the, 121. 

Boston Tea-Party, the, 120. 

Braddock, General, character of, 105. 

Braddock, General, defeat of, 105, 106. 

Brandywine, battle of the, 133. 

Buchanan, James, elected President, 196. 

Buena Vista, battle of, ISO. 

Bull Run, battle of, 200. 

Bull Run, second battle of, 204. 

Bunker Hill, battle of, 126, 127. 

Burgoyne, march of, 134. 

Burgoyne, surrender of, 135. 



Cabots, voyages of the, 18. 

California captured b}' Fremont, 182. 

California, value of, 183. 

Canada, discovery of, 20. 

Canonicus, story of, 47. 

Carolinas, the, colonization of, 78. 

Carolinas, the, division of, 80. 

Carolinas, the, life in, 84. 

Carolinas, the, settled by the French, 31. 

Carolinas, the, wars with Florida, 79. 

Cartier, Jacques, voyages of, 20. 

Centennial Exhibition, the, 222, 223. 

Champlain, Samuel de, story of, 34-36. 

Chancellorsville, battle of, 207. 

Charleston, bombardment of Fort Sumter 
at, 199. 

Charleston, capture of, in the Revolu- 
tionary war, 137. 

Charleston, earthquake at, 226. 

Charter Oak incident, the, 52. 

243 



244 



INDEX. 



Charter troubles, the, 52. 

Chiittanooga, battles around, 209, 210. 

Chicago anarchists, the, 22G. 

Chicago fire, the, 220. 

Cities of Revolutionary times, the, 144. 

City life, 169. 

Civil war, description of the, 200-213. 

Civil v?ar, outbreak of the, 199. 

Clayborne's rebellion, 69. 

Cleveland, Grover, elected President, 225. 

Colonies, government and laws of, 92. 

Colonies, growth of, 90. 

Colonies, industries of, 90. 

Colonies, isolation of, 91. 

Colonies, the English, 90. 

Colonies, travel in, 92. 

Columbus, Christopher, the story of, 12- 
18. 

Commerce, interference with American, 
155. 

Commerce of New England, 141. 

Concord, English expedition against, 
123. 

Concord, stores at, 123. 

Concord, the retreat from, 124. 

Confederacy, the Southern, 198. 

Congress, state of, after the Revolution, 
150. 

Congress, the Constitutional, 151. 

Congress, the first Continental, 121. 

Congress, the second Continental, 127. 

Connecticut, Dutch in, 64. 

Connecticut, English in, 64. 

Constitution and Guerriere, conflict of 
the, 159. 

Constitution of the United States, amend- 
ments to the, 217, 218. 

Constitution of the United States, char- 
acter of the, 151, 152. 

Constitution of the United States, forma- 
tion of the, 151. 

Constitutional Convention, the, 150. 

Continental Congress, the first, 121. 

Continental Congress, the second, 127. 

Cornwallis, surrender of, 139. 

Cortez and Pizarro, doings of, 22. 

Cotton cultivation in the South, 169. 

Cotton-gin, invention of, 170. 

Customs of the Dutch, 66-68. 

Customs of the Georgians, 88. 

Customs of the Pennsylvanians, 74-76. 

Customs of the people of the United 
States, 167-169. 

Customs of the Puritans, 57-62. 

Customs of the Virginians and Caro- 
linians, 80-84. 



D. 



Davis, JefiFerson, President of the Con- 
federacy, 202. 

Decatur, Lieutenant, exploits of, 155. 

Declaration of Independence, 129. 

Delaware, how named, 73. 

Delaware, Lord, comes to Virginia, 42. 

Delaware separated from Pennsylvania, 
73. 

Delaware settled by the Swedes, 64. 

Democratic party, the, 163, 165, 196. 

Denys, John, discovery by, 19. 

De Soto, expedition of, 23-25. 

Duke of York, the, 65. 

Dutch dress, 68. 

Dutch, houses of, 67. 

Dutch in New York, the, 63. 

Dutch industries, 68. 

Dutch settlement taken by the English, 
65. 

Dutch, Swedish settlement captured by, 
64. 



E. 



Education in the United States, 237-239. 
Education in Virginia, 84. 
Education, progress of, 190. 
Electric cable, laying of the, 228. 
Electricity, discoveries in, 230. 
Emancipation of the slaves, 206, 
Embargo Act, the, 156. 
Emigration along the Ohio, 167. 
Emigration westward, 185. 
JCngland, difiiculties with, 156. 
England, first exploration from, 18. 
England, military strength of, 157. 
England, oppressive edicts of, 92, 115- 

120. 
England, restrictive laws of, 92. 
English colonies, claims of the, 97. 
English colonies, the first, 33. 
English companies, the, 39. 
English prisons, the, 85. 
English soldiers sent to America, 120. 
Escape of Mrs. Dustin, 56. 



F. 

Farm life in America, 168. 

Farming industries, 141. 

F.xrragut, Admiral, first service of, 202. 



INDEX. 



245 



Farragut, Admiral, in Mobile Bay, 212. 

Fillmore, Millard, becomes President, 
195. 

Florida discovered, 2 1 . 

Florida, war with, and purchase of, 163. 

Florida, wars of, with Carolina, 79. 

Florida, wars of, with Georgia, 87. 

Fort Du Quesne, building of, 103, 104. 

Fort Du Quesne, capture of, 106. 

Fort Du Quesne, expedition against, 105. 

Fort Moultrie, defence of, 128. 

Fort Necessity taken by the French, 104. 

Fort Necessity, Washington builds, 104. 

Fort Sumter, bombardment of, 199. 

France, expedition from, 19. 

France, treaty with, 135. 

Franklin, Benjamin, first Postmaster- 
General, 189. 

Franklin, Benjamin, in Congress, 129. 

Franklin, Benjamin, in the Constitutional 
Convention, 150. 

Franklin, Benjamin, sent to London, 119. 

Franklin, Benjamin, story of, 76, 77. 

Fredericksburg, battle of, 204. 

Free Soil party, the, 196. 

Fremont, General, takes California, 182. 

French and Indian war, 110. 

French and Indian war, end of, 112. 

French and Indian wars, first, 55-57. 

French claims to the Ohio country, 101. 

French colonies in America, 31, 34-36. 

French, enterprise of the, 98. 

French forts on the Mississippi, 100. 

French settlements in the West, 97. 

Fugitive slave law, the, 195. 

Fulton, Robert, steamboat invented by, 
171. 

Fur trade, the, 184. 



Garfield, James A., assassination of, 

225. 
Garfield, James A., elected President, 

224. 
Georgia, customs of the people, 88. 
Georgia, settlement of, 86. 
Georgia, war with Florida, 87. 
Germantown, battle of, 133. 
Gettysburg, battle of, 208. 
Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, voyage of, 33. 
Gold discovered in California, 182. 
Gold, results of discovery of, 183. 
Gold, specie payments resumed, 224. 



Good feeling, the era of, 162. 

Gourgues, Dominique de, revenge of, 32. 

Government and religion of Indians, 29. 

Government, " (irand Model," the, 78. 

(Government of the Puritans, 48, 52. 

Government of the United States, 151, 
152. 

Government of Virginia, 82. 

Grant, General, advance of, on Richmond, 
210. 

Grant, General, at Vicksburg, 209. 

Grant, General, elected President, 220. 

Grant, General, first service of, 201. 

Grant, General, made commander-in- 
chief, 210. 

Greene, General, campaign of, 138. 

Growth of population, 166. 

Growth of the colonies, 90, 122. 

Growth of the country, 185. 



H. 

Habits of the people, 145. 
Harper's Ferry, the raid on, 197. 
Harrison, Benjamin, elected President, 

226. 
Harrison, General, defeats Tecumseh, 

156. 
Harrison, General, elected President, 

178. 
Harrison, General, victory of, on the 

Thames, 158. 
Hayes, Rutherford B., elected President, 

224. 
Hood, General, defeat of, at Nashville, 

212. 
Hudson, Henry, discoveries of, 37. 



I. 



Independence, Declaration of, 129. 
Independence, Declaration of, meaning 

of the, 131. 
Indian raids in Virginia, 106. 
Indian Territory, formation of the, 179. 
Indian wars in the West, 154, 156, 178, 

219. 
Indians, description of the, 25-30. 
Indians, disposal of the, 233, 234. 
Indians, first battle with the, 35. 
Indians named by Columbus, 16. 
Indians of Georgia, treatment of, 89. 



21* 



246 



INDEX. 



Indians of New England, the, 47. 
Indians of Virginia, the, 41. 
Indians, Quakers and the, 76. 
Indians, wars with the, 53-57, 112, 154, 

156, 178, 219. 
Industries of Georgia, 88. 
Industries of the Carolinas, 79. 
Industries of the colonies, 90. 
Industries of the Puritans, 61. 
Industry, restoration of, 161, 162. 
Internal improvements, 161. 
Invention, activity of Americans in, 188. 
Invention, progress of, 236. 
Iroquois, defeat of, by Champlain, 36. 
Iroquois, revenge of, 36, 



J. 



Jackson, General, against the United 

States Bank, 177. 
Jackson, General, at New Orleans, 159- 

161. 
Jackson, General, character of, 176. 1 

Jackson, General, elected President, 176. 
Jackson, General, in Florida, 163. ' 

Jackson, General, measures of, against 

South Carolina, 177. 1 

Jackson, Stonewall, death of, 207. I 

Jackson, Stonewall, exploits of, 203. j 

James River, colony on the, 40. | 

Jamestown disaster, the, 227. j 

Jefferson, Thomas, elected President, 154. 
Jefferson, Thomas, writes the Declai-ation 

of Independence, 129. 
John Brown raid, the, 197. 
Johnson, Andrew, becomes President, 

218. 
Johnson, Andrew, impeachment of, 218. 
Jones, Captain Paul, story of, 136. 



K. 

Kansas, the troubles in. 195, 196. 

King Philip, death of, 54. i 

King Philip, war of, 54. 



Labrador, discovery of, 19. 
La Fayette, reception of, 172. 



La Fayette, visit of, to America, 172. 

Lake Champlain, battle of, 158. 

Lake Erie, battle of, 158. 

Lake George, battle of, 109. 

Landing of Columbus, the, 16. 

La Salle, story of, 99, 100. 

Laws, English colonial, 92. 

Laws, evasion of, 116, 117. 

Laws of Georgia, 88 

Laws, restrictive English, 116. 

Lee, General, advance north of, 204. 

Lee, General, at Gettysburg, 208. 

Lee, General, defends Richmond, 210, 
211. 

Lee, General, in the Wilderness, 207. 

Lee, General, made Confederate com- 
mander, 203. 

Lee, General, surrender of, 213. 

Lee, Richard Henry, motion for liberty 
of the colonies made by, 129. 

Leisler's revolt, 65. 

Lewis and Clark, expedition of, 183. 

Lexington, battle of, 123. 

Lincoln, Abraham, assassination of, 213. 

Lincoln, Abraham, elected President, 
197. 

Lincoln, Abraham, the slaves emanci- 
pated by, 206. 

Locke, John, ])lan of government of, 78. 

Lookout Mountain, battle of, 210. 

Lord Baltimore, 69. 

Louisburg, capture of, 107. 

Louisiana named by La Salle, 99. 

Louisiana, purchase of, 154. 



M. 



McClellan, General, besieges Richmond, 

203. 
Machinery, invention of, 236. 
Madison, James, elected President, 157. 
Magellan sails round the globe, 22. 
Manhattan Island bought by the Dutch, 

63. 
Manufactures in America, 116, 142, 
Manufactures, progress of, 234-236. 
Marco Polo, travels of, 12. 
Mariner's compass, discovery of the, 12. 
Marion, General, 138. 
Marquette discovers the Mississippi, 
Maryland, settlement of, 69, 70. 
Massachusetts Bay settlement, 47. 
Massacre at Fort William Henry, 109. 
Massacre of the French colonists, 32. 



INDEX. 



247 



Massacre of Wyoming. 136. 

Massacres in New England, Indian, 56. 

Massacres in Virginia, Indian, 43. 

Menendez, massacre by, 32. 

Mexican war, the, 1S0-1S2. 

Mines, value of, 187. 

Minute-men, the, 121. 

Mississippi River discovered by De Soto, 
24. 

Mississippi River discovered by Mar- 
quette, 98. 

Mississippi River explored by La Salle, 
99. 

Mississippi River, ojtening of the, 2U2. 

Missouri Compromise, the, 164, 195. 

Monitor and Merrimac, the, 205, 206. 

Monroe, James, elected President, 163. 

Montcalm, Marquis de, death of, 112. 

Montcalm, Marquis de, in command at 
Quebec, 110. 

Mormons, the, 186. 

Morse's telegraph, 188. 

Mound-builders, the, 26. 

Murfreesborough, battle of, 201. 



N, 



Narragansetts, defeat of the, 54. 

Narvaez, adventures of, 22. 

Nashville, Hood's defeat at, 212. 

Negro plot in New York, 66. 

Negroes first brought to America, 42. 

New England, settlement of. 45-49. 

New England, the people of, in arms, 124. 

New England, warlike feeling in, 122. 

New Jersey, settlement of. 74. 

New Mexico, capture of, 181, 

New Orleans, battle of, 159-161. 

New Orleans, founding of, 100. 

New Orleans, surrender of, 202. 

New York captured by the English. 65. 

New York captured in Revolutionary 

war. 131. 
New York, discovery of, 3". 
New York, Dutch settlement of, 63. 
New York, modes of life in, 66-68. 
News})apers and books, increase of, 191. 



Oglethorpe, character of, 85. 
Oglethorpe, colony of, in Georgia, 86. 



Oglethorpe, later life of, 87, 88. 

Ohio Company, the, 101. 

Ohio River, claims to the valley of the, 

101. 
Oregon, acquirement of, 184. 



P. 



Panic of 1837, 177. 

Panic of 1873, 221. 

Panic, the first business, 173. 

Parties in the United States, 165. 

Parties, new political, 196. 

Patrick Henry opposes English taxation, 

118. 
Patroons, the Dutch, 68. 
Penn, William, story of, 71-73. 
Penn, "William, treaty with the Indians 

made by, 72. 
Pennsylvania, modes of life in, 74-76. 
Pennsylvania, settlement of, 71-73. 
People, modes of life of American, 167- 

169. 
People, prosperity of, 172. 
Pequot wi»r, the, 53. 
Perry, Captain, victory of, on Lake Erie, 

158. 
Philadelphia captured b\' the British 

armj', 133. 
Philadelphia, description of, 74, 75. 
Philadelphia, founding of, 72. 
Philadelphia, retreat of British from, 

135. 
Pierce, Pranklin. elected President, 195. 
Pilgrims, later story of the, 47. 
Pilgrims, sufferings of the, 46. 
Pilgrims, voyage and landing of the, 

46. 
Pioneers of the North, 166. 
Pioneers of the South, 140. 
Pirates of Carolinas, the. 79. 
Pittsburg Landing, battle of, 201. 
Plantations, life on the, 81. 
Plymouth Company, colony of the, 40. 
Pocahontas, the story of, 41. 
Political parties, 165, 196. 
Polk. James K., elected President, 180. 
Ponce de Leon's expedition to Florida, 

21. 
Pontiac, Indian war of, 112. 
Population, growth of, 166. 
Population, increase of, 185, 233. 
Population of the colonies, 140. 
Postal service, the, 189. 



248 



INDEX. 



Prisons, improvement in, 190. 
Progress of the South, 236. 
Proprietors, the, 78. 
Punishments in New England, 59. 
Punishments in Virginia, 83. 
Puritan colon}', the, 47-49. 
Puritans, dress of the, 58. 
Puritans, food of the, 59. 
Puritans, houses of the, 57. 
Puritans, industries of the, 61. 
Puritans, laws of the, 59. 
Puritans, military customs of the, 61. 
Puritans, modes of travelling of the, 62. 
Puritans, religious customs of the, 60. 
Puritans, titles of the, 58. 



Q. 



Quakers, dealings of the, with the Indians, 

76. 
Quakers, description of the, 71. 
Quakers in New Jersey, 74. 
Quakers in Pennsylvania, 73. 
Quakers, persecution of the, 60. 
Quebec, attack on and repulse, 128. 
Quebec, capture of, by Wolfe, 110. 
Quebec, founding of, 34. 



Railroad, introduction of the, 171. 
Railroads in the United States, 230- 

232. 
Railroads, usefulness of the, 232, 233. 
Raleigh, Sir Walter, colonies of, 33. 
Reconstruction of the Union, 218. 
Religious customs of the Puritans, 60, 
Religious liberty in Maryland, 69. 
Religious liberty in Pennsylvania, 73. 
Religious liberty in Rhode Island, 49. 
Religious persecution in the colonies, 70, 

83. 
Religious persecution of the Puritans, 

49-51. 
Republican party, the, 163, 165, 196. 
Revere, Paul, ride of, 123. 
Revolution, distress after the, 149. 
Rhode Island, settlement of, 49. 
Ribault's colony, 31. 
Rice introduced into America, 79. 
Richmond besieged by McClellan, 203. 
Richmond, Grant's advance on, 210. 



Richmond, Lee's retreat from, 212. 
Richmond the Confederate capital, 202. 



s. 



St. Augustine, founding of, 31. 

Salem witchcraft, the, 51. 

Scott, General, campaign of, in Mexico, 

181. 
Scott, General, victories of, in Canada, 

158. 
Secession of the Southern States, 198, 

199. 
Serapis, capture of the, by the Bon Homme 

Richard, 136. 
Sergeant Jasper, daring of, 128. 
Settlements in the interior, 140. 
Seven days' fight, the, 203. 
Shays's rebellion, 149. 
Sheridan's ride, 211. 
Sherman, General, advances north, 212. 
Sherman, General, attacks Vicksburg, 

209. 
Sherman, General, in command of Western 

army, 210. 
Sherman, General, marches through 

Georgia, 211. 
Signal service, the, 229. 
Slavery, abolishment of, 217. 
Slavery, difficulties about, 164. 
Slavery, disputes about, 195. 
Slavery in the colonies, 91. 
Slavery, the question of, 194. 
Slaves, emancipation of the, 206. 
Smith, Captain John, story of, 40-42. 
South, progress of the, 236. 
South Carolina invaded by Sherman, 212. 
South Carolina, secession of, 198. 
South Carolina tariff troubles, their settle- 
ment, 177. 
South Carolina, tariff troubles with, 176. 
South Carolina, the war in, 137. 
Spain, Columbus aided by, 13. 
Sjiain, rece])tion of Columbus in, 17. 
Stamp Act, opposition to and repeal of, 

118. 
Stamp Act, the, 117. 
Standish, Captain Miles, 46, 47. 
Stark, General, at Bennington, 134. 
State Rights doctrine, the, 198. 
States, formation of new, 154, 163. 
States of the Union, 145. 
Steamboat, invention of the, 171. 
Steamshi]), the first ocean, 171. 



INDEX. 



249 



Swedes, capture of, by the Dutch, 64. 
Swedes, settlement of, on Delaware River, 
64. 



Tariff question, the, 164. 

Tax on tea, the, 120. 

Taxation, the dispute about, 117. 

Taylor, General, advance of, into Mexico, 

180. 
Taylor, General, elected President, 180, 

195. 
Taylor, General, victory of, at Buena 

Vista, 180. 
Tea, refusal to receive, 121, 
Tea, the tax on, 120. 
Telegraph, length of, in the United States, 

229. 
Telegraph, the electric, 188. 
Temperance reform, the, 190. 
Territory, acquisition of, from Mexico, 

182. 
Territory, increase of, 183. 
Territory, value of, 182. 
Texas a State of the Union, 179. 
Texas claimed by Mexico, 180. 
Texas, La Salle's colony in, 100. 
Texas, rebellion and independence of, 

179. 
Texas, war caused by, 180. 
Thames, battle of the, 158. 
Thomas, General, victory of, at Xashville, 

212. 
Ticonderoga, capture of, 124. 
Ticonderoga, English repulse at, 109. 
Tobacco, culture of, in Mrginia, 42. 
Tobacco introduced into Europe, 33. 
Tobacco used as money, 80. 
Travel, difficulties of, 143. 
Travel in the colonies, 91. 
Treaty of peace with England, 139, 161. 
Tripoli, war with, 155. 
Tyler, John, becomes President, 178. 
Tyranny in Europe, 85. 
Tyranny, ten years of, 122. 



u. 

United States Bank, the, 177. 
United States, cities of, 144. 
United States, commerce of, 142. 
United States, extent of, 145. 



United States, farming population, of, 

142. 
United States, manufactures of, 143. 
United States, origin of people of, 141. 
United States, population of, 140. 
United States, States of, 145, 146. 
United States, travel in, 143. 



V. 



Valley Forge, suffering of the army at, 

134. 
Van Buren, Martin, elected President, 

178. 
Vera Cruz, capture of, 181. 
Verrazano, voyage of, 19. 
Viclisburg, passing the forts at, 202. 
Vicksburg, siege and surrender of, 209. 
Virginia claims the Ohio country, 102. 
Virginia, settlement of, 40. 
Virginia, the war in, 202-206. 
Virginians, modes of life of the, 80. 
Voyage of Columbus, 14-16. 



W. 

War, civil, 199-213. 

War, civil, results of the, 216. 

War, French and Indian, 110-112. 

War, Revolutionary, 123-139. 

War with England, seat and character of 

the second, 157. 
War with Mexico, 179-182. 
Wars with the Indians, 53-57, 112, 154, 

156, 178, 219. 
Washington, George, captures Fort Du 

Quesne, 106. 
Washington, George, commander-in-chief, 

127. 
Washington, George, crosses the Dela- 
ware, 132. 
Washington, George, early life of, 102. 
Washington, George, elected President, 

152. 
Washington, George, journey of, to the 

Ohio, 103. 
Washington, (Tcorge, patriotism of, 150. 
Washington, George, retreat of. from New 

York, 132. 
AVashington, George, service of, against 

the Indians in Virginia, 106. 
Washington, George, service of, with 

Braddock, 106. 



250 



INDEX. 



Washington, George, victory of, at Tren- 
ton, i;^3. 

Washington, the burning of, 159. 

Wayne, General, capture of Stony Point 
by, 136. 

Wayne, General, defeats the Western 
Indians, 154. 

Wealth, increase of, 187, 284. 

West, settlements in the, 140, 154, 167. 

West, the war in the, 201, 202. 

Whig party, the, 165. 

Whitman, Dr., Oregon gained by, 184. 

Whitney, Eli, invention of the cotton-gin 
by, 170. 



Wilderness, battle of the, 210. 
Williams, Roger, story of, 49. 
Witchcraft, the Salem, 51. 
Wolfe, General, capture of Quebec by, 

111. 
Wolfe, General, death of, 112. 
Wyoming, massacre of, 136. 



Yellow fever in the South, 224. 
Yorktown, the surrender at, 139. 



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